Dichotomy
by The Rose's Charm
Summary: Suki's destinychanging battle with Azula, Sokka and loss, the meaning of protect, and Azula's highly structured world. It's about division, contrast, and branching off into the unknown. AU to S3, SokkaSuki, Sukka, Maiko, etc.
1. Key

Hello, hello, hello.

It's been a long time since I wrote anything this long, and when finished, it should be ten chapters. It's been a long time since I wrote –– and continued –– something multi-chaptered, and I figured I'd do it all at once, to save myself from losing drive to keep going. So I did.

Now... er... I got ideas, and I decided, quite frankly, that I was prepared to break fandom "taboos", such as turning strong characters against themselves. This is not an "emo" fic. This is a story about Suki, Sokka, Azula and Zuko, and the point is getting BETTER, not spiraling worse and worse.

There will be no cheap angst tricks, I promise. I've done my homework, and I hope it shows.

That said, if you are uncomfortable with fic involving torture, feel free to read only the first two chapters. The first, "Key", can stand by itself as a relatively light-hearted Sokka/Suki fic with some mild Sokka/Yue on the side, and the second chapter, "Classical", acts as a study of Azula's character. Both link to the plot, which will truly begin in the third chapter, "Domestic-Public", but if one does not want to indulge in the darker side of things, they can stop before they get there. I won't be offended.

Let it be known that this fic is AU to the third season, and that the entire premise of it was written in September, in the weeks before the premiere of the third season. In hindsight, I am rather giggly about some bits you'll see later in the fic. Coincidences!

**Also, as an odd note:**I just got a review giving advice on the first paragraph of this chapter, arguing that if the gang was traveling towards the east, it would be earlier. This is false. Just to use my own location as an example, if I'm in Ottawa/EST (Eastern Pacific Time), and were to travel EAST to Halifax/AST (Atlantic Standard Time), I would be moving from 6am to a later time.

If I were moving WEST to, say, Winnipeg/CST (Central Standard Time) I would be moving from 6am to an EARLIER time.

Therefore, Sokka's logic that moving from point A (the Southern Air Temple) to the EAST to point B (Kyoshi Island) would make the actual time later than he would normally guess is correct.

**CHAPTER ONE: KEY**



If Sokka looked up at the sun, he could figure it was almost six in the morning, but perhaps he was a bit off, seeing as they had been traveling east in the past few weeks. He struggled to make the connection between the sun and travel, and how it changed time. He settled on six-thirty.

Either way, he was incredibly proud of himself for managing to get himself up at such an early hour. Katara and Aang were still snuggled in their beds, warm and toasty, and he was tramping his way through the woods in the snow. It wasn't like he wasn't used to the bitter cold of winter –– it'd been his whole life, after all –– but he liked having sensation in his toes, as well.

But despite the definite chill outside, the dojo was warm.

"Morning," he called when he stepped in, and six heads lifted look look at him, all brown-haired, with six very similar faces all painted in white and red and charcoal. But he picked out Suki amongst them in a second, if only because she wore the leader's headband.

"Good morning," a few mumbled back, and Suki even smiled when she said it.

"Have you ever done a kata?" she asked, and Sokka shook his head.

"A kata?" he repeated. "If I have, I didn't know what they're called. What are they?" With a grin, he gave a bounce on his feet, and lifted his arms. Punching the air a few times, rather like an overly-enthusiastic child, he asked, "Punches? Kicks? General butt-kicking, huh?"

"Well then, Energy Boy, you're going to learn one today," Suki replied, and the smile that widened on her face was definitely threatening to his ego. "They're what _you_ would call _dance classes_. But first, we'll get you dressed."

His smile faded, and hers remained. He avoided an immature freak-out scene by dry-swallowing and staring at her with some sort of unexpressed horror, and then, suitably whipped, he trotted off to the dressing rooms. It was with great humility that he pulled on the robes, but he was cool. He was a man. He could take it.

When he tried to skip out on the make-up, Suki stopped him at the door. She leant against the door-frame with that smile on her face, still, and she waved her fingers in some vague "turn right around" gesture, and he tramped right back over to the make-up dresser and down down on the floor in front of it. He cracked open the tin of white face paint and set to it, and Suki hovered over him like a bossy little rain-cloud.

"You're doing it wrong," she announced, suddenly, and right behind him. Sokka nearly stabbed himself in the eye with a charcoal pencil, and he gave an admittedly unmanly yelp. Suki leant down over his shoulder and took the pencil from his hand. "You're making the lines all shaky. Haven't you ever worn warpaint before?"

"Hey," Sokka protested, "I'm trying. And I have, I just never had to use eyeliner, thanks. I can do the rest of it okay."

"It's easy. Watch."

Amused, she took him by the shoulder and moved him to face her, and then she sat down in front of him. He leant back, just slightly, and she took the pencil from his hand. She brought the tip up to her eye, and drew a neat line without even having to look in the mirror. To Sokka, it didn't look any easier. He couldn't bring things that close to his eyes without having to blink like mad, and he didn't exactly dream of an eyeful of charcoal.

"If we're going to allow a boy in here, he has to at least be presentable. Here," Suki said, and she shifted to be on her knees, and she leant towards him. He put his hands behind him to brace himself, and she took him by the chin with one hand, briefly, and raised the pencil with the other. "Look up."

He did so, and she brought the pencil forward to his eye, one finger carefully placed under his eye. He tried to ignore the fact that she was holding him by the face as she moved the tip towards his lash-line. At the last second, he craned his neck to get away, and protested, "Careful!"

She sighed, and moved back a bit. "Just stay still, it's not going to hurt you."

"You almost stabbed me in the eye!" he argued, and she bore down on him bossily, hands drifting to her hips. He brought up a hand to cover his eye, though she hadn't actually done him any harm.

"I did not! I know what I'm doing!" she said, bossily. "Come here."

He reluctantly leant towards her again, and dropped his hand. She moved forward again, and this time managed to touch the tip down before he shot backwards again.

"Sokka!" she said sharply, "Stop moving, or I_ will_ accidently stab you in the eye. You can't look as sloppy as you did yesterday."

"You touched my eye that time," he protested, sounding rather disgusted. "I _felt _it."

"I can't make a mark if I don't touch you with it," was her reply, and she bore down on him for a third and final time. This time, he froze completely still, until he felt her dragging the pencil across his lower lid. It was an inappropriate time, with the point so close to his eyeball, to try and tilt his head forward a bit. Suki did, indeed, stab him in the eye. He let out a yelp and shoved himself away.

Clutching his face, he said, "You _stabbed_ me! You touched my _eye_!"

"I really _did_ that time," she said, "by_ accident_. Because you won't stop moving."

His eye burned, and he blinked rapidly under his hand, each one driving the pain in his eye about like mad. Suki's face was drawn into a frustrated look, her smile gone, and her impatience shining through. Sokka felt stupid, but then again, he was already dressed like a girl and wrapped up in his dumb feelings. What could be worse, anyway?

"Okay, okay," he said, defensively, and he lowered his hand and looked at the mirror. His eye was vaguely pink-red, and it still stung. He blinked again a few times, and turned back to her, "Can I just skip the eyeliner?"

"At this rate, maybe you should, you're late enough as it is."

"Okay," he said, and she climbed to her feet. He followed suite, but stepped on the hem of his hakama, and though it didn't rip, it did give him an unpleasant jerk when he tried to step forward and ended up tripping. Suki caught him by the arm at the same time as he caught his balance against her side. She hoisted him upright. "Ack."

"Careful there, Sokka," she said, letting go. "Let's get you dancing, huh?"

"Yeah," he said, face red under all the white make-up.



Sokka just couldn't get into it.

Perhaps it was the fact that he had a growing boy's body. He'd be sixteen next week, anyway. His coordination was shot, a little bit, and even when he was getting pretty used to his body, the fact that he was wearing a dress-thing wasn't too helpful. Perhaps it was the shoes –– Kyoshi warrior boots were thin-soled and way too tight on Sokka, who had huge feet. Perhaps it was his own nose, because whenever he looked down he saw a white thing on his face.

Or perhaps it was the fact that he was thrown amidst a dozen or so very capable, very highly-trained warrior girls with a style very unique to Sokka's variety of combat. These girls had art to their fighting and warfare, while Sokka was decidedly better rooted in hunting and close-quarters fighting with clubs. His boomerang was his best weapon, not his hands, and these girls were incredible with their hands.

"Keep your arm straighter, guy," the girl next to him said, as she swept through another motion, in perfect unison with the girls on all sides of her. Sokka tried to do so, and felt his feet move out-of-step with everyone else. In front of him, Suki brought her arm in a circular motion, and stepped forward.

As one, the entire flock of girls moved forward together, while Sokka was slow to react. He'd been shown the routine a dozen times, now, but he still had to think about each move before he did it, while the rest of them seemed to have it ingrained in their very being. It flowed out of them like water, perfectly, leaving him the awkward male amongst them.

Even if he still thought the kata were as feminine and dance-like as he initially had considered them, he had to admit that maybe there was some skill involved, after all. None of them broke a sweat, and he was sweating pretty badly, so that his make-up ran around his hairline. Suki caught a glance of him over her shoulder, face pristine and eyes drawn into an amused look. She smiled.

"Not so easy, is it?" she said, rubbing it in.

"It's hard," he replied, "though I don't get why you do it."

"Every piece of combat in made up of movements. While there's no specific order to it, in a real battle, sometimes we have to predict what the opponent will do. It's for self-defense... some other styles of combat will practice kata for other reason, but ours has everything to do with form, and being able to work as a unit."

"Yeah, but don't you have to fight on your own, sometimes?" Sokka asked, and Suki turned her head back forward. She brought her arms across her front in a protective stance, and so did the rest of them. Sokka followed belatedly, distracted.

"Of course," she said, "but if we don't have to, we don't. We never run away when someone's in need. But making up defense movements is a dangerous hobby, acting on wit and spontaneity... it may have worked for you so far, but even you should know that there are times where routine works best."

"I hate routine," Sokka announced.

"Then I suppose you'll either learn to love it, or die. I hated it once, too, but now it's become the perfect joy," she replied. There was a slight pause, and Sokka could feel every girl in the room listening to her with equal attention as they were giving their movements, but not a single girl faltered in her kata. Suki continued, "Not that I don't like something new every once in a while."

She looked over her shoulder at him again and smiled, and one girl giggled. Suki's eyes flicked to her, not angry or upset, but simply curious. The girl smiled back, though she stopped laughing.

Sokka felt as though he had missed something. Probably another secret of the Sisterhood of Dancing-Fighting Girls In Gold and Green, or something.

"You'll learn to love them in time," Suki said, and Sokka doubted he ever would. "I don't suppose you ever trained without any order at all, back home."

"Well, no," he admitted, "but I did just switch whatever I was doing when I got tired of one thing. If it gets boring, I don't do it, so..."

"And I suppose that's why your hand-to-hand combat skills are so lousy," Suki said, inserting her own end. Sokka felt himself bristle, slightly, but he went with it.

"There haven't been people for me to practice with," he said, as an excuse. She seemed to consider it valid, but she shrugged.

"Kata," she replied, simply.

Sokka felt a smile tug at his lips and he rolled his eyes ceiling-wards, and for the first time, he managed to move entirely in sync with them, when they all swept their feet forward and brought their fists out to punch in mid air.



When Suki stretched, she could extend her leg completely flat, grab her foot, and lean so far over her breast touched her thigh. She stayed like that for ten seconds, and then eased herself out of it, to do the same with the other leg.

Sokka wasn't so flexible, and it actually hurt to even go part-way down. It burned the back of his knee badly, and he gave up, so that Suki, lying out on her own leg, turned her head to the side and smiled.

All the other girls had gone home, gone to bed, and Suki was still doing her final stretches of the day, slower and slower, to ease her body out of of the day's work. Warm up, train, wind down. Sokka had never bothered doing this before.

"Don't beat me to death for asking," he said, "but why are you girls so against guys being fighters?"

Suki's smile faded around the edges a bit, and she seemed to think on it. She sat up straight and extended both legs at once, so that she could almost literally fold herself in half. When she sat back up, she said, "It's our culture. For the same reason your tribe doesn't have female warriors, we don't have male warriors."

"Yeah? Guys here are better at cooking, or something?" he replied, feeling a bit oblivious. Suki smiled funny.

"Everyone cooks here, Sokka. It's just always been the way of Kyoshi Island. It started with Avatar Kyoshi, and she raised her daughters to be warriors because her husband worked on the farms. If men here tilled the earth, and then had to go to war, what would the women do?"

"But no one's going to war," Sokka replied. "You said that yourself. Kyoshi Island refuses to get involved."

"It started that way, and we've continued on ever since," Suki said. "Ignore the details of war. Women protect Kyoshi, our home, like a turtleduck protects its babies. Men take care of growing food and hunting. We've been doing it for over six generations, we could never just change our ways."

Suki seemed a bit frustrated with him, but she always seemed to cover it up with that snide, sarcastic attitude, just like he did.

"Anyway," she continued, "we know perfectly well that few very places in the world believe a woman's place is wherever she wants to be. People seem to think this is an island where men are inferior, like how women are treated as inferior elsewhere, but it's not true. We all work in symbiosis."

"Hey, women aren't inferior in the Southern water tribe," Sokka replied, defensively. "I mean, cooking and taking care of kids, and sewing and all that junk, it's all just as important as food. Us men would fall apart without women there. They just don't hunt, they don't have the bodies for it. We're physically stronger."

Suki, mid-way through stretching out her legs in a particularly creative way, looked up at him like he was crazy.

"Pfft, only because women down South aren't brought up to be physically strong," she scoffed. "You've been brought up in a sexist community, and that's not your fault."

He was particularly annoyed by that, and wanted to snap at her, but didn't want to risk getting kicked out of the dojo for good. He tried to stretch again, ignoring the burning sensation, and managed to get himself down with his chest to his thigh, with a great lot of pain.

"And Kyoshi isn't sexist?" he replied. He wasn't exactly delicate. "You kind of treat men like we treat women, no offense or anything. It isn't like we mistreat women, we cherish them. They just... belong in the home. That's where they grow up."

Suki glared at him.

"Right," she said, loftily, "_right_."

"I'm serious," Sokka replied. "I know you're training me, and I'm really grateful, but isn't it just as bad to treat guys like they're inferior warriors just because they're men? Why look down on us, huh?"

"You're missing the point," Suki said, and instead of getting riled, her voice was just getting loftier, most holier-than-thou. "We do not treat men as inferior. It's just tradition that they don't become warriors, just how it's tradition in your tribes that women don't learn to fight. We don't look down on you, it's just not our way. It isn't like we don't know anything about the outside world."

She stopped stretching and sat up straight, with her legs folded. She put her hands in her lap, and continued, "Look, Sokka. People come to Kyoshi all the time, trying to escape the war, and they expect that because they're outsiders, they're an exception. That because in their culture, men can be warriors, and women care for the family, it should be the same here. And time and time again, boys come to me and demand and complain, and whine about not being let into the unit. Practically four or five every month, for every year I've been a warrior, all complaining and demanding and shouting, and I turn them all away. Some people settle into what Kyoshi Island has for them, but others leave because they don't like how we run things."

Sokka listened carefully, and intently, but something nagged at him. He asked, baffled, "Why did you let me in, then?"

Suki stood up and turned away, and pulled off her gloves. She gave him a dismissive wave and headed towards the dressing room, and Sokka watched her go, confused. Sometimes he just didn't understand girls, and why they had to be so complicated, especially if the question was so simple and so basic. She didn't look back, but she replied.

"Because... you asked nicely," she finished, with a funny smile, and there was an awkward pause with him staring up at her like she'd never even answered it at all, waiting for a real answer. She said, suddenly, "Now come change, and head home."

It didn't feel like an honest answer in its entirety, but Sokka climbed to his feet anyway and tramped off after her, kicking off his too-tight boots as he went. One shot off his foot when he tugged it and it whacked him in the chest, and Suki gave him a smile.

He was just relieved she hadn't kicked him right out of the group.



"Who are you and what's so special about you?"

The girl standing in front of him was short, with her bangs cut straight across her forehead, a couple of inches above her eyebrows, giving her a permanently surprised look. She couldn't have been a day over the age of eleven, Sokka decided. She peered up at him in a curious sort of way.

He grinned, and stood up taller, feeling proud of himself already. He _was_ special. He was really special. He replied, without skipping a beat, "I'm Sokka, of course, and I'm a great warrior from the Southern Water tribe!"

"Wow!" she said, brightly, "No wonder you're friends with the Avatar!"

"Yeah, well," Sokka replied, "he does think I'm pretty epic, you know. That's why he trusts me. I'm legendary back in my tribe."

"Yeah! I bet!" Apparently, he'd failed to notice her at the lessons earlier, because she added, cheekily, "Except kata. You're not very good at kata, are you? It's very weird, who doesn't know kata?"

What had initially flattered him had struck a very sensitive nerve, suddenly. Sokka replied back, sharply, "Hey, I'm just learning now, we don't do kata down south! Besides, it's slow and boring. And I'm already wicked at self-defense, practically nothing gets by me."

He probably shouldn't have spoken up so soon. Suddenly, there was an arm slipped around his throat from behind, and his right arm was twisted behind his back. He knew it was her, of course, simply because the other girls generally avoided him and just gave him lofty looks from across the room, and last time Katara had tried something like that with him, he'd made her eat snow. That, and no other girl in Kyoshi was likely to kick the shit out of him.

"You were saying?" Suki said, with a playful snarky voice in his ear. Sokka gagged, trying to pry her arm off his throat with his left hand. She was bending him backwards to do it.

"Nngh–– Suki! Ngh! Let–– go––!!"

She did. He tried to stay upright, but instead she dropped him down, so that he hit the floor butt-first, and hard. He sat at her feet, shoulders against her knees, and rubbed his throat, breathing ridiculously hard, even when he hadn't even been held like that for ten seconds.

"You were saying something about wicked self-defense?" Suki prodded, leaning over to look at his face, hands on her hips. The girl Sokka had been talking to giggled, and Sokka climbed to his feet, bright red.

He straightened his shirt and brushed off some invisible dirt. Suki elbowed him in the ribs and asked him again what he was saying about his wicked self-defense, and he couldn't lie to her. He had to own up to it.

He was an honest sort of guy like that. He replied, sheepishly, "Er, I was just––"

"Showing off," Suki supplied, cutting him right off. "I saw. You want to run some of those boasts by me first, before you go mouthing off to my girls about how _epic_ you are?"

Sokka stared at her for a moment and then demanded, bewildered, "Are you some sort of eavesdropping ninja spy?! I could have sworn you weren't around!"

"What can I say?" Suki replied. She smiled brightly, honestly, and she stepped back. She said, "Want to prove it?"

He hesitated, and then said, "Alright."

Sokka lifted his hands, and Suki tossed him a set of fans. One he caught perfectly, very used to his boomerang coming back to him, but he barely managed to keep his fingers on the second one at the same time. He fumbled it, and scooped it up off the floor as Suki flicked hers open.

The gold shone in the early morning sunlight, and she replied, "Put them high, Sokka. Girls, Sokka thinks he's good enough now."

The whole room stopped to pay attention, and the girls chattered amongst themselves for a few moments, before settling in the watch. Sokka was apprehensive immediately –– last time he had taken on Suki in front of an audience, he'd wound up hog-tied and face-down, and they'd left him to worm his own way out.

Suki just seemed to have that vibe that made him think she'd be quite happy to embarrass him to the point of choosing death over a rematch.

"Let's see what you've learned," Suki said, tilting her head slightly, so that the tassels on her headband fell over her face. Sokka flushed red when she smiled and added, "Show me what a man you are, huh?"

Sokka said, "Yeah, okay, Suki." He let out a long breath, and straightened his shoulders to go into the attack.

Regardless of what he tried, no matter what sort of moves he tried to pull, the inevitable happened: Sokka wound up on his hands and knees on the floor, with Suki standing over him with a hand on her hip. The girls all around them snickered or laughed, and Sokka hung his head with a sigh. The small of his back was sore, where Suki had so easily placed her foot and shoved.

"Still want to show off?" she asked, and Sokka shook his head. Or, at least, he tried, because her other hand was holding him by the wolftail quite firmly, so he stayed immobile.

"No," he admitted, and she let him go. He sat back on his heels and stood up, face-to-face with her, quite aware that not only had he been beaten twice by a girl, in front of an audience of girls, but he had also been beaten by a girl who was shorter than him, rather small in stature, and still stronger than him.

But he was okay with that, he reminded himself. Sokka was cool. Sokka was man enough to be beaten by a girl, and he just straightened up and said, kindly, "Thanks for the round, Suki."

He lifted his hands in the default pose and offered, "Can we go one more time before we start today's exercise?"

Suki's smile widened, and she spread her legs a bit, to give her better stability. She said, enthusiastically, "You're on."



Appa wasn't terribly comfortable to ride.

Sokka spent most of his time on Appa sleeping, or dozing, because while Katara was thrilled to watch the world fly by, he got bored. It didn't matter that he had never seen a tree before the past few days, or that he had never seen rocky mountains, or grass. After a few days, he'd seen it, and there wasn't much interesting about it, unless he had his face pressed into it. Then, he could be interested in watching all the insects and the tiny little plant worlds, but from Appa, all you could see was blobs of colour. Green for trees. Green for grass. Brown for rock and wood.

Katara was interested in watching that, but Sokka had a new green and a new brown to think about: Suki.

Their departure had been swift and rapid, unexpected, and his cheek still felt warm where she had kissed it, despite the fact that it had been many hours and they were still in a mildly cold region of the world. In his head, that place was warm, and it was to be cherished.

His first kiss was something to be respected, and contemplated on. Sokka would worship the crook of his jaw, the place near his ear, like a sacred ground. Suki'd claimed that spot.

He let out a content sigh and Katara glanced over her shoulder at him and asked, "Why're you so happy, Crossdresser?"

Sokka glanced down at his clothes, the too-tight bodice and the long green skirts, and the drape of heavy fabrics were suddenly noticeably present on his body. The flush rose on his face, hot and red.

"Shut up, Katara!"



When Yue had invited him out for a ride, Sokka had accepted. Not too eagerly, of course, as there were many people all around them, but Yue was difficult to speak to without wanting to show her some sort of excitement.

He was a pretty laid-back guy, when it came to talking to people, but Yue was just different somehow. He'd never been around Water tribe girls his age, not since he was a kid, and this was so different from any other girl.

Sokka hated to admit it, but he was acting a bit stupid. He'd catch himself thinking deliriously dreamy little thoughts, things like how the curve of her chin was so pretty, how her eyes were so blue. The type of things that he'd never admit, as a self-respecting male, and things he'd never dare breath to Katara, unless he wanted to be made into a fool.

But Yue was just so damned gorgeous, whether she was picking at her dinner or brushing her hair back behind her shoulders or even walking. Sokka wondered, vaguely, if that was what first love was supposed to feel like. His heart beat like a war-drum whenever she brushed close, or whenever she looked his way and put her lips just like that.

As crude as it was, Sokka had many a ridiculously happy night's sleep, buried in his sleeping bag, while Katara and Aang slept, long exhausted from their days training with Master Pakku. Sokka could care less about waterbending. There was a doe-eyed girl he could spend time with instead, and this beauty was interested in him.

It really bothered him to remember it wouldn't last forever, but Sokka was a here-and-now sort of guy, anyway. His stomach growled, he ate. Sleep called, he slept. Yue looked his way, and he was there for her, eager to please and utterly joyous to just be wherever they were at the time.

So when she suggested riding, how could he refuse?

Buffalo-yaks weren't a thing found in the Southern tribes, and Sokka had never had the pleasure of riding one. They were tall, their mighty shoulders level with his eyes, and they wore bit-less halters with short reins and odd saddles. Sokka's was more of a strap with stirrups and a horn in the middle, while Yue's actually had a weird seat built onto the girth strap. It had two pommels, one higher than the other, and when Sokka raised his eyebrows at it, Yue said, "It's so I can sit sideways without falling off."

"That's smart," Sokka said, and he held onto the halter. "Need a hand?"

She glanced up at the beast, seemingly sizing it up, and then nodded. He let go of the halter, carefully, hoping it wouldn't move around too much, and then offered his hands for her to step up into.

"Are you sure? I'm heavy," Yue said, flushing.

Sokka laughed it off and said, "I bet you aren't."

"I am," she said, still red, and he kept his hands out. When he didn't hesitate, she stepped up, holding onto what she could reach of the pommels. Sokka boosted her up quicker than he intended, finding her not heavy at all.

Well, maybe a _bit _heavy, but that was probably due to the extreme amount of clothing she wore. Either way, up Yue went, into her seat, and he held onto her foot while she found her seating, one leg hooked over the higher pommel.

"Heavy. Psh, right. Comfortable?" Sokka asked. Yue shifted in her saddle, apparently at least a bit uncomfortable. But she folded the reins in her hands and set her hands in her lap, and sat up tall. Sokka smiled, and let go of the animal's halter. It shook its head, and when Sokka was sure it wasn't going to bolt without him, he went to his own animal and untied the lead from the post.

It took three tries for him to get his foot into the first stirrup, which was obscenely high, and boost himself up and over. Yue giggled when he nearly pitched himself over the other side, and he flushed, but she made no comment.

"Alright," Sokka said, "I think I'm alright, too. Let's go!"

It felt ridiculous to sit in a saddle that wasn't big enough for him to stretch out in, like Appa's, simply because he was straddling something much wider than he expected. The animal's sides heaved under him, and he considered that riding the girl's way wasn't so bad after all. At least they probably didn't feel so uncomfortably _stretched._

Yue nudged her ride in the side with her heels, and it sprang forward fast enough that she lurched backwards, but she held on. Sokka's ride shot after the other before he could even ask it to. He gave a startled yelp, and Yue giggled, though she was holding onto the saddle horn for dear life.

When the animals settled into a decent pace, heading clear out of the city, Sokka felt he could make conversation. He said, clinging to the saddle horn with both hands, "So you've only done this like once or twice… and I've never done this. Isn't this kind of dangerous? I'm happy, don't get me wrong, and it's fun, but wouldn't someone balk?"

Yue flushed and she glanced off into the horizon with a funny smile. She said, softly, "Well, um, they don't know you don't ride."

Sokka had a minor freak out that resulted in his ride shooting forward even faster, until he yanked back on the reins and slowed it down. When he recovered his concentration, he said, stressed, "They don't?!"

"No," Yue said, "I didn't tell them that bit."

Sokka wasn't about to talk about the possibility of the two of them getting pitched to the ground and abandoned in the frozen wastelands surrounding the village. Yue continued for him, "I know where we're going, don't worry. There's a really pretty cave up there… I went once as a child."

"Oh," Sokka said. He wasn't calmed much, rather concerned for her safety, but since Yue knew what they were doing, he supposed he could deal. He pulled his ride up to Yue's, determined to have them ride closer.

"It's not too far," she promised.

And it wasn't. After twenty minutes of riding, delicate conversation centering mostly around Sokka's travels across the world, they approached what seemed to be a large ice cave. Sokka smiled when he saw it, and Yue gave him a pretty smile as he slid from the saddle, waiting for him to help her down. There was nothing to tie their rides to, so he settled on tying one's lead to the other's, and hooking it over the base of a rather large crystal jutting up and far over his head, straight up from the ground.

And then, with a smile, he reached out his hands for hers and took them, to help her balance. She unhooked her leg from the pad on the saddle and he took her by under the arms, and she slid down. He caught her, easily, and her boots touched down on the ice an instant later.

So close, he could see the slight shine on her lips, and at the same time, he let go and she moved away, both red in the face. That was okay, Sokka figured, and he offered her an arm. She hesitated, and he said, "No one's going to see out here, Yue."

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, and then took his arm with her arm, her forearm pressed against his. The thickness of their parkas the only thing separating them.

"Let's go, then," she said, brightly, and they set off into the cave.

Cave might not have been the right word – it was more of a hollow, a long snaking tunnel carved from the ice for some reason. There were bits in the ceiling that were open, or made of thin ice and snow, allowing light to seep in through it, translucent and dim. But the ground and walls had a crystalline quality to them, like glass.

"What is that rock?" Sokka asked.

"It's quartz," Yue explained, after reaching out to touch it. She then touched some of the shiny baubles on her hairpieces, and Sokka followed the movement. He nodded. She said, "Myth says that it's water frozen so cold it can never thaw again."

Sokka laughed, and said, "That's impossible."

"Really?" Yue smiled, obviously interested. The way she looked at him spoke volumes, the way her eyes widened, the way she seemed to lean forward, hung on his every word.

"Yeah," he said, "it's a kind of stone. If it really were ice, wouldn't waterbenders be able to alter its shape?"

Yue paused, and a look of realization dawned on her face. She touched the baubles again with her fingertips, and laughed, and she said, "You're right! You're so clever, Sokka."

"Yeah," he said, smiling back, and he said, "Thanks."

"It's really pretty though, isn't it?" Yue said, cheerily. "Once, some traders brought many different sorts of stones from the Earth kingdom. They were beautiful, really, all different colours and shiny, but none were as clear as these stones. They say that Earth kingdom caves are made of rubies and sapphires and emeralds, and all the precious stones in the world!"

Sokka laughed, and he replied, "Not any of the ones I've seen. They seem to mine for coal more than anything."

"Really," Yue mused, "I wonder if I'll ever see the Earth kingdom someday?" She looked up at him, so bright and gorgeous, her dark skin glowing in the pale lights. Sokka wanted to haul her up against him and kiss her, but he resisted bravely, and she said, "If I ever go, will you come with us?"

He disliked the "us" there, as he wasn't a part of that exclusive group, but he replied, just as bright, "Of course! I'll show you all the cool places. We can do… activities."

She laughed, and started to walk again. He followed, his arm tightening on hers protectively, and they wandered a good ten minutes in. It was warmer in the cave, shielded from the wind and the snow, enough that Sokka felt warm in his coat. Yue seemed to, too, but she didn't take anything off, so he didn't, either.

"I want to see the whole world, someday," Yue said. "I'm sure it's so different."

"Oh yeah," Sokka said, "I mean, I had heard about trees, and I had seen wood and all that stuff, but no one can really explain to you what a tree is like that close. Plants, too. I mean, lichens and moss look kind of pathetic next to flowers and bushes and stuff."

"Traders brought leaves up here, once," Yue said, "but they were brittle and dead. Branches, too. My father has been to the Earth kingdom, and he says that all the trees suffocate the sky and block it out, so you can't see it. I can't imagine a world like that."

"I couldn't, either," Sokka replied. He shifted his arm, and continued, "But it's sort of weird to be able to go outside all day wearing only light clothes."

He thought about the Earth kingdom girls and their fitted clothes, about how Water tribe girls looked so shapeless but delicate in their thick clothing. Earth kingdom girls seemed hardier, not only by the way they looked, but the way they acted. Other than Katara, Sokka had never known a capable, physical girl in his life, never mind ones that dressed in clothes that showed the feminine forms of their bodies. Yue was the sort of girl one put on a pedestal, and she enjoyed it. She was a princess. She was gorgeous.

Sokka imagined what Yue would look like in the sleeveless tunics of the Earth kingdom, in the knee- or shin-length skirts, with bare arms. He smiled to himself, and Yue slipped her hand into his and asked, "Is it strange to come back here after being in a place so warm?"

"Well, it seems colder than usual, but you keep me warm," Sokka admitted, with a playful grin, and then, realizing his mistake, he rapidly corrected himself with, "I'm really warm. You're making me warm. Your arm is touching mine and I'm warm. This cave is nice. I'm… sorry."

Yue laughed, cheeks going pink again.

"Well, I wouldn't want you to freeze," she teased. She nudged him in the side with her elbow and he thought of someone else for a fraction of an instant, before she tugged him back to the present. She turned to face him and said, "Thank you for coming here with me."

"Yeah," he replied, flippantly, and was about to continue when she grabbed him by the front of his parka and hauled herself up against him, pressing her lips to his. He was stunned, for the first instant, and then he found where he was. He kissed back, one hand drifting to cup her cheek.

When she stepped back, he held onto her waist, and he finished, dreamily, "No problem, Princess Yue."

She smiled, sheepishly, her face still red, and she said, after a moment of silence, "Sorry."

"Don't be," Sokka replied.

There was an awkward pause where she drifted from his arms, and then she said, in a change of subject, "Maybe we should head back now? We should be back before dinner."

Sokka nodded, and offered his arm. She didn't take it, and his heart sunk, but they walked back close together none-the-less, his arm near to hers, his hand swinging within reach. Once or twice, she moved to take it, and didn't, but on the third time, she finally did, and he settled. Her fingers curled around his, slender and delicate, fingers that had never held a weapon or done considerable amounts of work.

Yue was a princess, free to sleep late and relax. Sokka had never had that life, and he admitted he never would.

He closed his fingers over hers, warm and calloused under his gloves. She was good to hold. He slipped into his daydreams about her hands and glanced at her. She was looking up at him with glassy blue eyes, and he gave her an acknowledging smile, almost bashful.

She was such a beautiful thing, and right then, when he made eye-contact, Sokka decided that maybe, just maybe, the embarrassing feelings in him were a funny thing called love.



When the girl had taken him quite forcibly by the collar and jerked him about, and planted a big kiss on his cheek, the first thing that had struck his mind was Suki's name, and with an instant taken to recognize her, he found all the familiar things he had forgotten. It was like getting his past memories being re-shuffled to the present, and his heart skipped a beat. Her hands were worn from wielding weapons, her face was young and pretty, and her bossiness was oddly welcome.

"Suki!" he enthused.

It was good to be back with her, back so close to her, but the place by his ear tingled warmly, reminding him that Suki had been the first, but she hadn't been the last person to kiss him there.



They started up the Serpent's Pass.

"Who's this?" Toph asked.

"Oh!" Sokka said, as an afterthought, and Suki smiled down at the stocky little girl. Sokka continued, "Toph, Suki, Suki, Toph. Suki, Toph is blind, Toph, Suki is a Kyoshi warrior."

Toph gave an irritated noise and folded her arms. She scoffed, "You remembered for once, and then that's how I get introduced?!"

"Well," Sokka said, defensively, "it's true."

Toph heaved an aggravated sigh.

"A female warrior, huh?" Toph said, and she lifted her head a bit more. She continued, "Not too often that _girls_ learn to fight."

Sokka paused to reflect on this, and he said, curiously, "Aren't women in the Earth kingdom allowed to learn? I thought it was just the Water tribe."

"Do you actually pay attention to people in the kingdom, or do you just put your fingers in your ears and shut your eyes and scream like a little girl?" Toph scoffed. Suki smiled, slightly.

"No," Suki replied. "Women can learn earthbending for peace and meditation, and for farming, but not for fighting. Kyoshi is unique because girls are taught to fight, regardless of whether they're earthbenders or not. Do you fight, Toph?"

"I'm a master earthbender," Toph replied. "In other words, I do _most_ of the butt-kicking in this team."

"Hey," Katara and Sokka replied, in unison, and Katara protested, "I do just as much work as you do, and Sokka, well… Sokka helps."

"I do more than help!" Sokka objected, "Or do you want to not eat for a day or two?"

"I'm sure Toph and I could hunt if you weren't around," Katara replied. "No so sure about Aang, though."

"Nah," Aang said, lifting his hands up in the air and smiling. "I can find us some vegetables, but killing an animal would be against my principles."

"Wussy," Toph replied, and Aang threw her a look.

Suki laughed, and said, "You guys get along fine, if you're still healthy. It doesn't matter who hunts, as long as you get fed, right?" She paused and glanced at Sokka with one of those big smiles, her eyebrows lifting. It was almost an admiring look. Suki said, fondly, "But I'm sure Sokka does a great job at it."

Sokka laughed, felt his face flush, and he replied, in a modesty that wasn't entirely sincere, "Yeah, well, I do what I can, right? Anything to support my family. Even if Toph eats a lot, I strive to fill everyone's bellies to the max. "

"Hey!" Toph protested. "I do _not_ eat a lot. No one eats more than you!"

"Yeah, well, but I've got a manly stomach to fill," Sokka replied, "but what about you? You're like five-foot nothing. Where does it all go?"

Toph bristled and stomped one foot on the ground, letting out only an enraged huff. A column of rocks shot up under Sokka's feet, pitching him into the air suddenly. It hurt, to be jabbed so hard and then be flailing around in mid-air, momentarily weightless, but then he went pitching down to the ground shoulders-first.

Luckily, Suki half-caught him and half cushioned his impact. He landed right on top of her, and she let out a stunned "oof" as she hit the ground with him, albeit much softer. Sokka groaned and was on his feet in an instant, hoisting Suki to her feet and rounding on Toph.

"Can you take a joke?!" he snapped, and Toph frowned instinctively. He leered at her for a fraction of a second and then he turned to Suki, incredibly concerned. He had landed on her, he had nearly crushed her, and it was all Toph's fault! What if she was injured? What if she had sprained something? What if she had hit her head and lost all memory of him? "SUKI, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Suki said, brushing herself off, and daring to laugh a bit, "You flew!"

"Are you sure?" he asked, concerned, holding her at arm's length and inspecting her. There was a long streak of dirt up the back of her hakama, where she had touched the ground. "You're all dirty, are you sure you're okay?" He went around her quickly and brushed it off, and Suki looked mortified.

"Sokka!" she said, stepping away from him and grabbing him by the arm to pull him up straight. "I'm fine."

"Are you really sure?" he pressed.

"Entirely," Suki said, and she frowned, "I'm perfectly fine; are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, I landed on you!" Sokka exclaimed, and he moved forward to inspect her again, but she neatly stepped out of his grip, raising her hands in protest.

"I'm fine," she stressed. Sokka let out a long breath.

"Are you su—"

"Positive," Suki interjected. She was looking at him as if he had grown a second head, and he was pretty sure that hadn't happened. He wasn't sure why she was being so defensive — he was just looking out for her, after all. All he wanted was for her to be safe from harm.

"Okay."

"Jeez," Toph said, rolling her eyes and letting out a huff. Sokka rounded on her.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"What is _with_ you?" Toph asked, "Jeez, you're acting weird. I've done that to you a million times before, why are you so freaked out THIS time?"

"BecauseSukiwasrightthereandyoualmostkilledherwithme," Sokka streamed.

"What?" Toph said.

"Because Suki. Was. Right. There. And you almost. Killed. Her. With. Me." Sokka said, saying each word like it was its own sentence, each louder than the next. Suki frowned, but he didn't notice, because he pressed on with a, "That's dangerous, Toph!"

"What, is she made of glass?" Toph replied, skeptically, "I'm pretty sure she's not dead."

"But she could be!" Sokka said, giving an exaggerated wave of his arms, "She could have been crushed under me! Or she could have hit her head on a rock! Or she could have fallen down and broken something! Or she could have fallen off the cliff and dashed her brains out on the rocks below! Or she could have had a spontaneous—"

"SOKKA," Suki interrupted again, reaching around him and clamping her hand over his mouth. He stopped being an idiot, for a moment, and wisely shut up. Suki said, "I'm fine, got it?"

Sokka let out a long breath, and relaxed, and Suki reluctantly pulled her hand off his mouth. When he opened his mouth again to add something, she re-clamped her hand down, and he shut up again.

"Relax," she said, calmly.

He settled in, reluctantly.

Toph remained agitated.



Apparently, it was complicated.

He started to walk off, and Suki hesitated. Regret filled her, suddenly, and for once, she wished she hadn't been so honest with him immediately after he had brought up having lost someone he cared about.

Around the campfire behind her, behind the crops of rocks, she could hear the sounds of the rest of their party at the campfire. She could hear Toph and Katara arguing with only a little bit of animosity, and the pregnant woman and her husband laughing over something. And Sokka was just walking away, deeper into the labyrinth of rocks and cliffs, the moon making everything glow blue and rich, with Sokka heading to a more personal place.

And then Suki knew she couldn't let him walk away to be so alone. She burst from her stand-still and rushed after him, and she took his arm. Sokka stopped quite suddenly, and she nearly smashed right into her, but her quick reflexes let her skid to a halt in front of him.

"Sokka," she said, and then she wasn't sure what to say.

He just stared at her, his mouth curved into a sad, sad face, and he let out a confused little, "Yeah...?"

She dropped his arm, almost awkwardly, and she said, "If you want to talk...?"

Sokka's shoulders sloped into that distinctly unconfident slant, and then he nodded his head towards the rocks, his hand drifting to her shoulder. He gently steered her back, and she sat down. He settled down next to her. Suki shifted on her rock so she could face him better, tucking her legs under her. Sokka avoided her eyes.

"I've... never talked about Yue with anyone, Suki," Sokka replied. "Well, I mean... I talked with her dad briefly, but we had to go soon after. I've sort of dodged Katara every time she's brought it up, and Aang, well, he asked once and didn't bring it up again, and Toph... I don't even know if Toph knows. She came along after."

"If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to," Suki said, assuringly. Her curiosity burned, but she didn't dare be demanding. There was no point, there would be no good from actions like that. Sokka glanced at her, sidelong, and gave a weird smile, the corners of his mouth twisting up and his eyebrows lifting. "We could talk about other things!"

In a way, she regretted the idea of spending what time she had with him watching him mourn something she didn't understand.

"Nah," he said, and he turned. His face was growing a bit red, again, and he continued, bravely, "You should know."

Suki waited on him, and nodded slowly. Sokka turned to face her, and he started off.

"See, when we got to the Northern Water tribe, there was this girl."

Sokka stopped there and gave an odd grimace-smile, and though Suki felt a strange bit of jealousy at it, she wasn't sure what to make of it. His halt and expression made it unclear as to whether "this girl" was a good thing or a bad thing, and she waited patiently.

"She was Princess Yue, and she had just turned sixteen, and, er... we sort of fell for each other."

And he launched off into the story. Suki listened carefully, intently, initially steeling herself so she wouldn't interrupt or ask pointless questions. But as the story got deeper and more intense, he was leaving gaps for her to talk to him, and she did so. She prompted him to talk more about Hahn and Yue, and jealousy, and anger. Sokka slowly let more and more details slip, until Suki felt as if she had been watching the whole thing.

He wasn't exactly poetic about it, mind. He fumbled over his words like expected, awkwardly describing how Princess Yue looked, almost stumbling over his _feelings_ for her. He danced around the word "love" like it was taboo, and gave her a funny look when he changed the topic at the subject of kissing.

Yet, somehow, he managed to be brutally honest with her, as he'd always been, in that brash way. He just skimped on the details that Suki knew how to fill in herself.

She had to admit, still, that there was a bit of a green-eyed monster lurking in the back of her mind, hearing Sokka talk about a girl like that. Not that Suki was particularly upset at not being that girl, as she accepted her crush on Sokka for what it was: simply crush on Sokka. But the idea of Sokka talking about her like that was more than a bit appealing.

He spoke about Princess Yue as if she was a goddess, which made sense now, more or less, but it was sweet, in a boyish, awkward way.

"A bit of an earful, huh?" he asked, and Suki laughed.

"Yes, but I'm always ready to listen to you," she replied. Sokka smiled, and she shoved him playfully, with a teasing little, "You're the one who talks too much."

"No, _you_," he shot back, just as teasing. He shoved her back, so she slid a few inches back on the rock, and she smiled. He looked relieved, somehow, like he had taken a huge weight from his shoulders. His smile was enthusiastic.

"Is that a challenge?" she asked.

His eyes met her dead on, and he replied, "If you want to make it one."

"Oh, I do," she said, quietly, in that mock-serious way. She gave a lunge forward to shove him, but he moved back first and then moved forward as she recoiled, and shoved her. She laughed, a bit too loudly.

"Do what?" Katara asked.

She had joined them, suddenly, appearing around the corner from the rocks, and both Suki and Sokka realized that the camp had gone mostly silent. When Katara approached, the two respectfully shifted away from each other, as subtly as possible. If she noticed, she didn't show it.

"We're all going to bed," Katara said, "you two going to stay up talking more, or are you coming?"

Sokka glanced at Suki, and she shrugged back at him. He turned to Katara and replied, "I guess we're going to talk more. We've got our bedrolls set up over here, anyway. Night, Katara."

"Alright," Katara replied. A funny smile settled on her face, and she said, "Goodnight Sokka, Suki."

She turned and left watching them over her shoulder, and they waited until she was clear out of view before moving. Sokka stood up first, slipping down off the rock and stretching, and Suki followed suite.

"Might as well get ready for bed, I guess, even if we don't sleep?" he said, and she nodded. She picked her way through the outcroppings of rock to pick up her pack. Sokka glanced around, blank-faced, and then said, "I think I left mine over at the camp… I'll be right back."

He started to walk off, but he froze at the corner of the rocks dividing them from the rest of the camp. Sokka turned, concerned, and he said, "Be careful where you walk, you never know when there's something pointy you could step on."

Suki bit back a sigh and said, "You too."

He paused still, and then smiled. "Gotcha." Off he went.

Suki went back to rummaging through her pack, pushing aside all her food supplies to dig out her sleeping yukata. Pulling it out and shaking it out in case some other loose articles in her bag had gotten caught in it, she draped it over the bag and stood up, unlacing her soft leather armour and putting it down over a rock. She was just pulling off her hakama-skirt when Sokka reappeared around the corner.

She looked up at him, holding her kimono closed over her legs, and he gave a goofy grin. With an exaggerated show of covering his eyes, his elbows sticking way out on either side of his head, he turned around to face the cliff and said, "Ohhh, it's nothing I haven't seen before, don't worry!"

"That's somehow not comforting. Who were you peeping on?" Suki teased, and when she was sure he was still turned right around (and not peeping through his fingers) she laughed and dropped her kimono off her shoulders, and picked up her yukata, slipping into it quickly and tying it shut with the sash.

"Alright," she said, settling down to shove her stuff back in her bag. She was careful to tie it shut very meticulously, as always, in case some creepy-crawly or fuzzy creature decided to dip its way into her things for warmth.

Sokka had fewer qualms with changing in front of her than she did in front of him. She supposed that had something to do with the fact that she had no issue with showing him how to dress like a Kyoshi warrior. He'd had an idea about how to put it on, but she had had to stand over him and fix up all the skewed folds, the dumb little errors, and the unlatched hooks on the top of the armour. Suki had practically stripped him and redressed him, after she had seen what a sloppy horror he'd done at putting on her beloved uniform.

Currently, he was pulling off his shirt and unwrapping the braces on his arms, and was walking about quite shirtless. Suki glanced over her shoulder at him and he caught her look, and he flexed his arms and made a strongman face.

She laughed, and then stifled it with her hand, because Katara and the others were trying to sleep. Sokka grinned at her and then sat down on a rock to pull off his boots.

"But you know," Suki said, "You aren't as scrawny as you used to be."

Sokka kept on smiling and he replied, "Hey, I was never _scrawny_."

"Alright," Suki corrected, "you used to be a shrimp."

"Suki!"

"Aha… well, you're actually filling out a bit now. Developing muscle. See what good vegetables and noodles can do for you?" she said, just to be a bit mean, and Sokka threw a boot at her, intentionally letting it sail far over her head, but she ducked out of instinct anyway. It landed in the rubble and she laughed. She asked, teasing still, "Is that the amazing aim you keep talking about?"

"I'll hit you next time," Sokka warned, lifting the other boot, and Suki kept her eyes trained on him, unblinking. She smiled.

"No you won't," she said.

He stared at her with his mouth open a bit for a second, with a dreamily calm look on his face, and he jerked into motion with a laugh right back. "You're right," he said, tossing the boot towards the other. It landed on top of it with a thunk. "I'd never throw something at you."

"I'm flattered," she replied.

"You should be," he said seriously, and then he said, "Veggies still don't do nothin' for me, though… but I guess I will miss the noodles. There's not half bad, for something made from plants."

"They're made from flour and eggs," Suki corrected.

"Fine. There's not half bad for something made from flour and eggs," he corrected himself. "And that makes it sound even more disgusting, thanks a lot."

"No problem," she said, brightly watching as he pulled off his socks and tramped around in nothing but his short pants. She had been honest when she had said it: she did think he looked remarkably good. In a matter of six months, he had turned from being a rather scrawny kid into a much stronger guy, and with all the training, traveling and good eating he'd been doing, he certainly seemed better, physically, in almost every way.

Or maybe it had been six long months of thinking of him, and seeing him in the flesh was a lot more reassuring than dreaming.

Sokka knew where her eyes were. He said, just as bright as he had been before, "Gee, Suki, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were checking me out!"

She pretended to reach for the boots and he lifted his arms in front of his face immediately, but she didn't touch them, only grinning at him. He dropped his arms and she said, "Maybe."

Suki could be honest. Sokka looked flattered and grinned.

She opened up the side pouch of her bag and pulled out the make-up remover, and set on taking all off all the timeworn red, black and white. Between the light of the moon and years of experience removing the paint, she could see what she was doing perfectly fine. Sokka watched her, the grin stuck on his face permanently.

"You're pretty stunning, Suki," Sokka piped up, bluntly, and Suki glanced back at him, mid-way through sweeping all the paint off one side her face. Sokka grinned at her, settling down on his sleeping bag and flopping onto his back.

"Just _pretty_ stunning?" she replied, playfully, finishing up and stashing her things away. She dropped down onto her own sleeping stuff, and gave him a nudge in the ribs with her elbow.

"No," he said, "Extremely stunning. Like… the type of stunning that stops all sorts of people in their tracks. Super stunning. Stunner _extraordinaire._"

She just laughed, and he did too, and together they talked and laughed each other to sleep.



"So girls are married off at age sixteen?" Suki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah," Sokka replied, "I mean, after sixteen, it's kind of late, you know? Well, most girls are married off by time they're sixteen, in theory, but the Southern Water tribe is sort of bare right now. Some of the other small villages, around ours, have more girls and guys my age, but we can't do much, with all the men away at war. After the Fire nation invaded a bunch of years ago, our tribe has sort of... split up, and we stay on the move, mingling when we can. We just don't have the means of building a citadel like they do up North, 'cause we lost everything before. Living in these small little bunches are the only way we can survive, really, there isn't enough hunting in any area, anymore, to support everyone at once, so we rotate..."

Suki sort of frowned, and she said, "Sorry, I don't quite understand... what happened?"

"The Fire nation came when I was just a kid. See, right now, the Northern Water tribe, up at the North pole, they live in a big city. It's all made from snow and ice, and it's been around for centuries. There are tons of really neat bridges and waterways, it's like... well, it's like Ba Sing Se, only way smaller and made of ice. My home was like that, though a lot smaller, when I was real little. But Fire nation ruined everything," he said, a twinge of bitterness slipping in towards the end. He added, with a slight grimace, "My mom died the day."

"I'm sorry," Suki said, softly, and Sokka shook his head. Katara looked over from where she was walking with Aang, calmly, and Sokka saw her mouth tense. When she caught his look back, she turned away, as if determined not to eavesdrop.

"I'm okay," he said, lowering his voice a bit, "I'm still angry, and I want revenge, but... it's been a long time. It's sunk in, it's not an open wound anymore. I toughened up. After Dad went off, I toughened up even more. But Katara, she still cries over it. Which is normal I guess, but..."

Sokka trailed off, as if he didn't know what to say, or if he had an excuse for it. But what? In his mind, it was "but nothing", but there was something about it he couldn't put his finger on.

"Before the Fire Nation attacked the Northern tribe... I guess I figured other people were fighting the war for us, but after that it really felt like the war was our responsibility, you know? All the men left to help the effort, and we had to stay to take care of the village, but now that the Avatar's returned... it feels like our responsibility too."

Suki smiled, almost sadly. "I understand," she said. "I've seen the difference, too, in you and myself, and everyone else. When you three showed up on Kyoshi Island, we were just training the days away, as if one day we'd be involved in the war, but we never left it until now, did we? Kyoshi was always supposed to be about escaping the war outside, about selfishly hiding ourselves away in the peninsula. In the end, I think it's been good for us to go, but it feels like we should have been out here all along."

"Don't say that," Sokka said, adopting a bit of an arrogant edge on his voice, "I mean, if you weren't at Kyoshi Island and were off fighting in the war, you'd never have met me! And that would be a real tragedy, no?"

Suki raised an eyebrow and laughed, tilting her head back to face the sky and laughing away, until she had to stop to breathe. She put an arm around him, for a moment, and gave him a playful squeeze that brought the flush back to his face.

"It would be," she said, brightly. There was a moment of silence between them, with nothing but the chatter of the rest of the crew up ahead, and the crash of waves against the pass, far below. There was no wind, and no haunt of cicadas he had grown used to in the Earth kingdom. The world itself had certainly grown silent, on the rocky pass.

His eyes drifted to the ocean and he felt the need to spark up the conversation again, but she did it for him.

"So when do boys become men, in the Water tribe?"

"Guys can take a wife when they turn sixteen. I could marry, now," Sokka said, "And if the war hadn't happened maybe I would be, but all the men've been off in the war, and there's a ritual we have to go through to become men. But we met Bato, and he let me take them, though I don't know if my Dad would count that, it was rocks instead of ice. You have to pilot a boat between them. Dad's the leader of our community... technically he should be the one to do it. Anyway, I don't think Katara will ever find a husband in the Water tribe, though," he laughed, "She's far too... revolutionary, for them."

Suki smiled and leaned towards him, one eyebrow raised. She asked, "Too... revolutionary?"

"You know," he said, playfully, "girls, fighting? Even in the South, girls don't typically learn to waterbend for fighting, though they can if they want, but up North, they're not allowed to fight. They do, well... practical stuff, you know? Sewing, cooking, healing. Guys down here might not worry as much about Katara being weird, anyway, but up North, I bet they'd all be too intimidated by her. Waterbending, especially for battle, is an all-boys sport, no girls allowed, though I guess she would beat them into making her an exception. HUH, Katara?!"

Katara looked at him over her shoulder, confused and obviously having been too lost in her conversation with the pregnant woman to listen to her brother, and she said, "Huh?"

"Nevermind," Sokka said, with a smile, and she raised an eyebrow and ignored him.

"Oh," Suki said, drawing it out with a wicked smile. Her shoulder nearly brushed Sokka's, and she said, teasingly, "No girls allowed in battle? Am _I_ too _revolutionary_ for you?"

"Hey, maybe I like a bit of revolution now and then, huh? You're not_ too_ anything for me, except maybe _too _beautiful," Sokka replied, defensively, though he smiled, and she cracked up.

"Oh Sokka," she laughed. "Sokka, Sokka. Don't ever change."

His cheeks were flushed red, and he laughed it off with her, with her hand on his.



"You and Suki, huh?" Katara smiled, "I saw that."

Sokka wheeled around to look at her, and he let out a strangled sort of whine, the sound of his dignity stabbing itself in the gut. She was looking at him like she knew something she could hold against him. Katara had seen him kiss her? It seemed unfair to him that she would mock him for never having kissed, and then give him looks that mocked him about kissing Suki. It was just a bit unfair, to be losing to his little sister.

"Hey, she liked it," Sokka replied, sharply. Katara giggled.

"What was it you always said about finding a nice, devoted Water tribe girl and settling down?" she said, wryly, "You know, that speech you gave when we were little? You want to marry Mom?"

"You don't remember that!" Sokka said, skeptically. "You were only four or five or something!"

"I do!" Katara replied, "We were in Gran Gran's tent, and Mom was telling us all about how she and Dad courted each other, and how they came to get married, and you said, YOU SAID, that you wanted to marry Mom, because she's pretty and perfect!"

"Hey," Sokka said, sharply, though his face was flushing bright red, "Suki's pretty, and Suki's perfect."

"You cried when Mom said you couldn't marry her!" Katara laughed.

"I was six!" he protested, and she went on laughing, so he grabbed her around the neck with his arm, held her against his side, and he mussed up her hair so badly it stuck up weirdly for hours and hours.

To be fair, she did beat him into letting go with her water bending, but when he and Aang spent the rest of the day trying to keep from laughing every time they looked at her hair, he considered it a victory on his part.



Sokka was slung on his back in the saddle, filled with more excitement than he could even being to explain. Aang, ahead of him and seated on Appa's head, was smiling, too. Both had many reasons to be joyous.

"I'm going to master the Avatar state and the war will be over by the end of summer!" Aang enthused, and Sokka nodded.

"I'm finally gonna see Dad, and then we're going back to Ba Sing Se, and I'm going to see Suki again," Sokka replied, just as enthusiastically, and when Aang glanced at him, he added flippantly, "And you're going to master the Avatar state and the war will be over! Yay!"

The "yay" sounded a bit forced, but neither paid much heed to that. Sokka was too brain-deep in his own imagination. He said, "When I see Suki again? Man. We'll be able to relax together for once. I'll sweep her up in my arms and everything will be perfect."

Aang laughed and said, "I would have thought Suki would sweep YOU up in HER arms, not the other way around."

Sokka took a second to realize the kid was teasing, and was half-way through the motion of getting up to knock the kid right off Appa. Though he supposed, well, why not, he figured there had to be limits on some things. He wasn't going to be swept up in any girl's arms unless he was missing his legs.

And even then, that was a bit embarrassing.

"Hey," Sokka trailed, slouching over the back of the saddle and folding his hands behind his head. "I can't wait to see her again."

Yeah. He'd sweep her up in his arms, and they would roughhouse, and they'd be in a big, big place with many, many rooms. There would be a lot of other Kyoshi warriors, but surely they'd be busy with their own stuff, and he could steal Suki away for some quality time.

As much as he liked the idea of sparring with her and proving to her just how far he'd come in the past months, Sokka had a few ideas he figured she wouldn't be all too opposed to. They could do... activities.

Activities like walks, dates, and exploring Ba Sing Se. She could even see all the things the Kyoshi warrior culture had come from, everything! It'd be perfect.

Sokka settled into these ideas with growing admiration, with growing excitement. He was a simple guy, and now that these world issues were winding down, he could maybe have a small measure of peace.

"Yep, it's something to look forward to, for sure," he said again, and then glanced Aang. "Someday, you'll find a gorgeous girl who'll adore you, and then you'll know just how great it is to be a man instead of a kid."

Aang was flushing bright red, and Sokka smiled to himself smugly.

Real men had real women, and he was well on his way.


	2. Classical

This is shorter than the previous chapter by only 3000-ish words. Yes, the first chapter was 12000. Absurd!

This chapter is all about Azula. Enjoy.

**Third Update:**Timeline adjusted to fit canon's continuity better, thanks to reviewers. Spelling errors and grammatical errors that escaped me are fixed.



**CHAPTER TWO: CLASSICAL**



All of a sudden, there was a loud series of coughs.

Stifling a yawn, Shuang looked over to his companion. The man was nearly doubled over in his coughing fit, his hands over his mouth. It sounded pretty bad, like the hoarse bark of a seal.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "Where were you last night, anyway?"

Dan Yi hadn't come back to the barracks after they had left their post, the night previous. When he could catch a break from clearing his lungs, he looked over and choked out, "Yeah." He spiraled down into another fit, and when he recovered, he explained, "Princess Azula is learning to firebend."

Shuang made no effort to hide his cringe.

"And how does that reflect your health?"

Dan Yi straightened up, leaning against the red pillars. Turning towards his fellow guard, he slipped his fingers under the edge of his mask and pulled it up and over his face.

Shuang, having shared a room in the barracks with Dan Yi since they were teenagers, knew what his friend was supposed to look like. Gone was the carefully manicured beard on his chin, leaving nothing but stubble. His lips were dried and cracked, creased red wherever the skin had broken. There was a strange yellow-grey mucus in his mouth, and it occasionally bubbled on his lips, the telltale sign of an infection.

"What happened?" Shuang asked, concerned. He lifted his own mask to see better and crossed the hall to inspect closer. From closer up, he could see that Dan Yi's mouth had minor burns across the front.

"I ran across her when my shift ended last night," he explained. His voice was dry. "She apparently grew tired of training with her teacher, I don't know why. She threw a fit when he wanted her to continue working with nonliving targets, so... she demanded I spar with her."

Shuang let out a disgusted noise, and lowered his voice considerably.

"If she wasn't going to grow up to be beauty, I'd wish for her to die in her sleep. Good thing Prince Lu Ten is heir... I would fear for the safety of the entire nation if she were entrusted with power. Prince Lu Ten will be a good ruler, someday, like his father will be."

It wasn't that the Fire Nation was terribly run under Fire Lord Azulon. In fact, it was better than rulers they had kept in the past. When the war had begun, the trade with the Earth country had been growing weak anyway, and the Fire nation, possessing a hot, dry climate with a very short growing season, was suffering from extreme shortages of food. With the invasion of parts of the Earth nation, the Fire nation simply secured itself a place to grow enough food to support it.

However, simply possessing the land didn't solve it. Crops frequently failed to make it to the Fire nation's starving people, thanks to the Water tribe's boats and the lack of knowledge about farming on the Earth kingdom's land. Food was in short supply amongst the peasants and commoners, and it signified a dangerous world when joining the military was the fastest way to ensure your family food. It sometimes costed a family member's life to feed the family for five years.

"I cannot wait for the day General Iroh takes the throne. Fire Lord Azulon may be powerful and wise, but this is the third year my family has barely survived the dry season, even with the Earth lands." Dan Li let out an odd, raspy breath, and he said, "If only her beauty excused her viciousness. She cannot control the flames yet, and thrust them straight into my face. Luckily, my armour protected all else."

"How did she aim so well?" Shuang frowned. "Surely, in her early training, she should hardly be able to create flame, let alone manipulate it?"

"She didn't create," Dan Li sighed, "she ordered me to show her fire-breathing, and when I did, she gave me quite the blow-back. Shot the flames backwards into my mouth."

Shuang shook his head and frowned. "And then?"

A strange look passed over Dan Li's rugged face, dark and displeased. He said, softly, "She laughed. She simply laughed, and demanded I show her again."

"Did you?" Shuang asked.

"No," Dan Li replied, his broken voice laced with sorrow, "how could I? She shouted and threw a fit, but I refused. She summoned the Captain of our division... I was docked pay for two weeks. My wife, the children... they need that money..."

He couldn't continue. From down the hall came the girl herself –– Princess Azula in her play-clothing, walking down the hall like she owned the place. At the age of only nine, she was plenty mature. Dan Li's children were in their early teens, and they still exhibited more childishness than the Fire Princess did. Azula walked with the dignity of a grown woman, she carried the haughtiness of someone beyond her few years. Her friends, similar in age, did not carry this same dignity. The smallest of the three was chattering away happily, and the tallest seemed merely bored.

When Azula approached, Shuang crossed the hall again to stand at his post, and both pulled down their masks and straightened. Azula paused between the pillars, looking between them.

"Where you out of your posts?" she asked, slyly, a wicked little smile blossoming on her face. She put her hands on her hips.

"Oooh, I saw them, they were. The skinny one was standing on the wrong side of the hall, I saw it!" the smallest said, brightly, and Azula looked her way with narrowed eyes, calculated and cruel.

"Oh, shut up, Ty Lee, we _all_ saw them. We'll just tell their captain when we see him! Maybe they'll be dishonourably discharged for disobeying," she said, as if it were nothing. Shuang dry-swallowed, and he could tell Dan Li was doing the same. Even so, the girls continued on without another word, leaving them with that lingering thought.

Princess Azula was a witch.

"Daddy was saying, the other day, how Earthbenders put up an amazing fight," Azula went on, "He says they fight with every last disgusting inch of their being! But they aren't _so _bad. They only survive because of the great wall of the city, not because they're strong. Our firebenders don't even break a sweat!"

"How is your Uncle?" the dark one asked, bored. Her eyes were half-closed, and her feet shuffled against the ground.

"His personal army has been going deep into the thick of battle," she replied, excitedly, "it's really dangerous there, Daddy says."

"What if he dies?!" the smallest asked, concern slipping into her voice. Azula scoffed.

"Then it's better for me! If he and Lu-Lu died in battle, all I'd have to do is worry about Zuko, and then I'd be Crown Princess!" Azula said, with building excitement.

It didn't take long for them to reach the doors down the hall. The trio passed out of sight and earshot, and Azula threw the two guards a smug look, and they waited a few moments before they dared speak again. Even then, they didn't relax.

"I hope she is married off to some old general," Shuang said, stiffly, "Her interest in the monarchy disturbs me."

Dan Li only nodded.



Father confided in her.

Her mother was soft, delicate, perfect for Zuko and his disgusting need for someone to run crying to. Azula didn't need that. Azula didn't cry. She didn't wallow in insecurity, like precious, _pathetic_ Zu-Zu.

But her mother had teeth, too.

"It's time for a talk," she said, and Azula was disgusted when her mother took her arm, as if she were a child to be punished. She was nine, now –– she was her father's prodigy, her father's secret keeper, her father's little princess. Better than Zuko, better than any general or grown man he had.

She was a master.

The shock at being dragged so forcibly by her sympathetic, gentle mother vanished from her and she adopted her favourite expression.

"What do you want to talk about, Mother?" she simpered, giving a coy smile and allowing her mother to pull her off. Princess Ursa kept on going, marching them across the palace. It felt like forever, and then she pushed open a large, ornate door.

Azula had never been in her father's room, and while it didn't shock her, even she could admit it was unusually ornate, every column and every post wrought with fine gold and metalwork. The bed was large, and there was a chest at the foot of it, and other than that, there were no other pieces of furniture, just a wide open space with a high vaulted ceiling. Despite it being night time, her father was not present in the room, and she knew why.

"Azula," her mother said, firmly, "what have you been up to?"

"Nothing, Mother," Azula smiled, brightly, maybe even affectionate in some dangerous way. "Zuko just had a bad dream."

"I can tell when you're lying, Azula," Princess Ursa replied, swiftly. There was something about her tone that didn't match her face, her eyes welling with tears and her mouth drawn into a hard but worried line. "What is going on?"

Azula erupted in giggles, vicious and loud, each round with more fervor than the previous. Her tiny body shook with each one, violently, and she only calmed because her breath was seizing in her lungs from all the effort, but she knew her mother understood perfectly. She knew her mother knew what was going on. She knew her mother was terrified, and utterly destroyed, and she didn't care.

Azula knew that all her mother had was her motherhood, and her motherly love, and there was nothing more. Even when she knelt down and held Azula by the forearms until she stopped laughing, the gesture was done with love. She did it gently, as if Azula were breakable, despite the firmness of her hold.

"Azula, what did Fire Lord Azulon say to your father?" Princess Ursa shook her, too gently, and Azula followed the movement with much exaggeration, her head falling back and then forwards, like a doll, stifling the last of her giggles.

"Not much," she said, playfully, "just some stuff about first-borns."

Her mother seemed to understand; she seemed to carry this revelation with little surprise but with much fear, an apprehension. She said, urgently, "What did he say, Azula? Tell me everything you know."

"I still say my father would make a better Fire Lord than Uncle Dumb-Dumb," she replied, casually, leaning against her mother's hands heavily, like a burden. Ursa held her tightly, her pale hands curled around Azula's forearms, as if she were growing fearful of her own child.

Good, Azula thought.

"Azula, Azula," Ursa said, urgently, the demand in her voice resurfacing and then vanishing again, "If your grandfather knew you were speaking like this, he would disown you for disrespect! What did your father say to Azulon? Quickly!"

There was a clang outside the door and Princess Ursa looked up. Azula saw the look on her mother's face so clearly, the sweat beading on her forehead, the sad and worried eyes, and the mouth drawn with such maternal concern! It thrilled her, it amused her, that her mother would worry so much about precious, precious Zuko, enough to shake Azula between her hands, firmly again, and Azula could only laugh.

"Just some _things_," she said, coyly.

"What _things,_ Azula, please, this isn't the time for games!" Ursa urged. She released Azula and stood up straight, looking down at her daughter, and she said again, "Azula, _tell me what your father said."_

"Before or after they met?" Azula smiled.

"Everything, Azula, why are you doing this to me? Don't you understand how important this is? Your father came to me and told me Lord Azulon had made an important decision… he did not say what, but I know your father too well to calmly sit by. I _know_ you eavesdrop on them, please don't make up lies. Tell me!"

"Just some things about first-borns," Azula said, flippantly, and she relished the look of fear on her mother's face, watching her intently, and her smile blossomed larger and larger. Ursa's pupils contracted. Azula kept on smiling.

"But what did they _say_, Azula?"

"Oh, Mother, stop repeating yourself," Azula admonished, and then she asked, slyly, "Why are you so upset, Mother? Honestly! It's just another death in the family. Pity, huh?"

Ursa looked horrified, and she took a step back. The look on her face was conflicting, yet again, twisting and turning between fear of her daughter and fear for what she quite clearly suspected: Zuko. Precious, pathetic _Zuko._

"Are you alright?" Azula asked, again. She couldn't hold back a laugh, and it escaped her lips, to Ursa's continued horror.

Ursa couldn't face her daughter anymore, it seemed. She turned away, her red robes twisting behind her as she did so, and she made a motion like to leave for the door, but instead she stayed where she was. Azula couldn't see, and she made no motion to follow, but when her mother brought her hands up to her face, she knew what a pitiful moment her mother was going through.

It awed her, enthralled her, that she had that sort of power over even her mother, who was so regal and defined, so strong and respectable. Azula delighted in her mother's weakness, in her own power, in the fact that she had everything in her control.

So she spoke to her mother's exposed back, ready to stab the woman at her lowest moment.

"If chance will have him Fire Lord, why, chance can crown him," Azula said, with a brilliantly wicked look – her eyes narrowed, her red lips curved into a horrid smile. "_Daddy_ will do anything to be crowned, even if it means taking Zuko out of his path. And Grandfather seems to _agree._"

In any other time, one would have assumed that a father would never have to remove his own son to inherit. In the many lines of succession, rule passed to the eldest, the first, whoever was willing to take the power and use it. It was their divine right, as the first-born, and Azula felt her father's path with commiseration, to be the second-born but better of the two.

If her father could kill his son to prove his strength, then it opened the throne up to not only him, but her as well.

Ursa looked at Azula over her shoulder, face drawn up in resolute anger and passion, the tear streaks fading from her flawless cheeks. Her eyes sharpened, still filled with tears, and she said, clearly, "What have I ever done to wrong you, Azula?"

"Nothing, Mother," Azula said, sweetly, but her own face spoke of challenge and cunning. She was in the right position to go for the kill, and she said, bluntly, "I just love Father most."

Ursa made a motion with her hand, like she was raising it to strike Azula. While any other child would have shrunk back in fear and horror at such a gesture, Azula did not. Azula stood fast, challenging still, and Ursa didn't strike her, instead dropping her hand. She stared, as if bewitched.

"May I go to bed now, Mother?" Azula asked, casually, and her mother didn't reply.

Ursa swept by her in a storm of crimson silks and satins, towards the chest of drawers at the foot of the bed. She pushed it open, with surprising strength, and Azula watched her root around for a moment before pulling out some clothes.

"Mother?" Azula said, curiously. Her smile remained.

"Go to bed, then, Azula," Princess Ursa replied, swiftly and curtly. "That's an order."

"Yes, Mother," Azula replied, and she gave a swift bow, almost sarcastic in nature. She left with that smile, that smirk, that look of sheer overpowering euphoria.

Azula crossed the great halls of the palace with a sense of smugness, feeling victorious in its own right. She figured that, by the end of the week, she would be Crown Princess – she would wear the crest in her hair and bear the title with pride, that she would be an heir worthy of the Fire Nation. She would wear the robes her mother wore so elegantly, but she would be no princess confined to the palace. She would do her nation proud like Zuko or Ursa never could, and she saw her mother for the last time that night, knowing full well that one day, she would see Zuko for one last time, too.

Heart or tongue couldn't name or conceive her drive to succeed.



The sun was rising too fast for Zuko's liking.

As it went up, brightening the world, his mood darkened. Every speck of light glimmering off of the golden-red waters brought blackness to his heart and dryness to his mouth. He was terribly worried and sore, and he felt sorry he was alive.

He watched yet another black ship sail off into the horizon line, finally disappearing altogether in the direction of the Earth kingdom. He silently wished he were with them, going off to an uncertain but undeniable future, instead of trapped here to wait. They were going to die, and they were going to die oblivious to the political world.

"You're going down," his sister sang behind him, and he gasped and shifted away to the side when he felt her breath on the back of his neck. She scared him, no matter how much younger she was. She startled him.

"Leave me alone, Azula," he replied, sharply, glancing at her over his shoulder, and she danced .

She was smiling, so that he could see her teeth lined up between her red lips. Her eyeteeth looked like fangs, from his angle, and her look was one that suggested she was ready to devour him, like a wolfote on a lamb. It sent a familiar crawl down his spine, still.

He looked away from her, and set his eyes on the water again, leaning up against the balcony rail.

"Thinking about how Father's going to kill you?" Azula said, sweetly. The syrupy, too-good-to-be-true quality to her voice was one Zuko knew well, one he had felt on his ears too often to forget.

But it was Zuko's turn to scoff.

"I'm having an Agni Kai with the General, not Father," he replied. "And he's not going to kill me."

But Azula knew better than to fall for any confidence, he knew. She had spent years driving that confidence to the ground, and then digging holes for whatever was still alive to fall into. Azula had an affinity for cowards, and she made people cowards so she could amuse herself. And he was one hundred percent sure that, had Azula been in the mission room when they planned to sacrifice the forty-first division, she would have laughed herself unconscious in glee.

She laughed then, and Zuko leaned over the balcony and ignored her, intently staring out at sea. She went on giggling even as he tried to ignore her. Her laugh was unrestricted, high and completely cruel.

"Oh, _Zuzu_," she laughed.

"Stop it," he growled, and he turned to look at her, bracing his arms against the railing. His fingers curled tightly, and his shoulders tensed. He said, "I'm not fighting Father."

Azula was his father's favourite. Azula was the one his father truly cared for, if not loved. She was the one he personally extended an effort in, in her training, in her life. The Fire Lord hadn't invested a moment in Zuko's training since he was nine years old, when Azula was six, when she showed more promise than him. Their father had dropped him the instant he had shown a single fragment of remorse, or a single fragment of inferiority. Azula had surpassed him at such a delicate age.

He'd hated her from that moment on. Her confidence, which had always been superior to his, had bloomed on the instant their father had named her a prodigy. That was when the wicked looks manifested in his every-day life.

_Zuko, the first-born, Zuko, the second-best._

Zuko felt as if they were constantly trying to get rid of him, and it enraged him.

"I'm the first-born, Azula!" he said, as firmly as he could. His voice gained confidence and muster as he continued, like a rolling ball gaining speed down a hill. He continued on, angrily, "No matter how much Father loves you, no matter how much he praises you, no matter how anyone likes you best, _I am the first-born_. I am going to inherit the throne. I am going to inherit the country. And _you_ are going to be nothing but a wife to continue the royal line!"

This did not only grate her nerve. It ground it, so that it broke the surface and penetrated deep and hard. Azula's dream had been her leadership, her rule, and reality was a twisted thing, no matter what. He knew of it, it was engraved in his mind in an iron pen, she had made it clear since they were children.

"You think you can't be gotten rid of?" she replied, softly, and he faltered, if only for a second. "You think you can't be wiped from the royal line, smeared across the floor and forgotten?"

Zuko hadn't considered that, and with the look on her face, he feared it, suddenly. It grabbed him like a cold sickness and choked him.

She could kill him.

"I'm first in line!" he snarled, viciously, "No one would dare smear me across any floor!"

If looks could kill, he would indeed be smeared. Her golden eyes narrowed, flickered with something far more intense than rage, and she said, again, calm and silkily, "You think you can't be killed, Zuko?"

He dry-swallowed, the knot in his throat growing ever tighter, and he opened his mouth to heave another retort, but she threw what he couldn't protest right in his face: "Father removed Uncle," Azula said, "and you know it."

Zuko had had enough. He let out a primal shout of anger, and he rushed her. He just didn't care anymore: he lunged, and she didn't see it coming.

He didn't even feel the sting of his knuckles as they made contact with the sharp ridge of Azula's jaw, and he didn't even consider the shock it must have been. He didn't think about how it could have been her first serious physical blow, the result of her very first fist-fight. That didn't matter to him. He didn't even wait for her to get up before delivering a shove backwards, and Azula hit the ground.

He stood over, breathing hard, and a bit afraid. He had contested her before, but he had never confronted her before. Never had he reacted so rashly.

Azula climbed to her feet, clutching her cheek, her eyes hardened but glazed with unwanted tears anyway. She brushed herself off, and balled her hands into fists momentarily, as if she was tempted to just punch him right back, but instead she adopted the fighting stance and pointed the flat of her hand at him.

"Hit me like a peasant would? Is your firebending that bad?" Azula said, dangerously. There was a slight sting of pain to her voice that made Zuko feel bad, for a split second, but she shouldered it off well. She continued, voice rife with threat, "I'll show you how to _firebend_ in a fight, brother."

He moved to take the right pose, but she had outpaced him already: she shot forward, one arm circling in the air and leaving a pinwheel of fire behind it, one that streaked towards his chest. He flung himself backwards, clumsily, and he made a flat arc of fire in front of him, to block hers. It worked, but she slid under his flailing arm and came up behind him.

Zuko began to move to stop her, looking over his shoulder to check where she was, but again he was outpaced. Azula was smaller, lithe, and undeniably _better_. He felt a foot pressed to the inside of his knee, and he buckled. Her other foot came against his other knee an instant later, and then there was a brusque shove to the small of his back.

He was on his knees before he knew it, with her hand wrapped around the base of his topknot and her other palm warm against the back of his neck. She giggled, and he let out an angry breath. The skin on the back of his neck tingled with sensitivity under the heat, but she didn't burn him.

"Daddy's going to love the show today," she said, quietly, and he could _feel_ the malicious smile on her face. He could _feel_ her viciousness, and it stabbed his pounding heart mercilessly.

She let go, roughly, and he breathed hard, willing himself to straighten up. He didn't, for a moment, and he listened to her walk away, her boots staccato on the tiled floor.

Zuko rose, quietly, and he just glowered at her.

"First-born, second-best, Zuko's walking into death!" she sang at him, and she sauntered inside.

_First-born, second-best, Zuzu's gotten quite obsessed._

_First-born, second-best, stupid brother is depressed,_

_First-born, second-best, he's walked into a dragon's nest._

_First-born, second-best, Zuko's getting very stressed!_



"Father?"

He looked up, carefully, his amber eyes drawing away from his papers slowly. Azula smiled, and folded her hands in front of her, politely. She waited for her father to acknowledge him, and when he finally did, her smile widened.

"Yes?"

"I wish to ask you a question," she said, respectfully.

"And what is that question, daughter?"

Azula could hardly keep the curiosity from overtaking her composure. She wanted to lean up against his desk, laugh, and generally admire her father, but she had been raised by his firm hand, and knew better.

Her entire life had been his guiding hand.

"I want to know," she explained, "why you scorch your victim's face when you win."

Her eyes were dancing in joy, the firelight glowing against her young face. The malice clung to her lips, it clung to the very way she stood and waited in anticipation. Azula wished to _know_ and it drove her.

Her father sat back in his seat, and he said, calmly, "Such as your brother?"

Azula paused, and then nodded once, the picture of feigned innocence. She delighted in her brother's newest problem. She had seen him laying on the floor, screaming, crying and screaming more, like a mere animal dying. Azula had wanted to laugh and laugh when her father forbade any action on a medic's part, stating that intervention would lessen the scar. When her father had left, as if nothing had happened, leaving Zuko shrieking in pain, screaming for his precious dead _mother_, Azula had done nothing to contain such a wicked smile. How it enthralled her, to see her father use such power without remorse! At that moment, she aspired to follow in his footsteps more than ever.

"Yes, father," she said, finally. The smugness escaped, she smirked, and the corners of her father's mouth twitched up into a similar smirk.

"I think it is an appropriate time for you to learn," he said, slowly. Every word was deliberately brought out, stressed to the fullest. "Given Zuko's shame, it stands to reason the Crown Princess should know how to run this great nation."

Azula would hardly contain her glee, her euphoria, what was practically a rapture in her father's presence. She was the Crown Princess, she had been since the night before.

Her father glanced to the side, eyes half-closed in some semblance of relaxation. The scribe there, attentive as always, said, "Yes, Lord Ozai?"

"I wish to be summoned next time a group of infidels are brought to the bastion. Princess Azula may be summoned, too. I shall mark them myself," he said.

Her curiosity blossomed.

"When will they be coming?"

"We welcome the Earth nation resistance to the citadel on an hourly basis," Lord Ozai drawled. "Now run along."



Her father had a remarkable way of walking, with long firm strides, as if every footstep would shake the resolve of enemy nations. His every moment was full of pride and nobility, and despite the weight of his armour, he moved as it he had none on. Azula admired him with everything a student should allow her teacher, with everything a daughter could give to her father, no duty undone, no will left unfulfilled.

Lord Ozai was an incredible man.

"Now, Princess Azula," he said. His eyes were trained on the row of quivering Earth nationers, each forced to their knees and held by the nape of the neck. "You shall witness how a man makes other nations docile with fear."

It thrilled her to see them shake with terror, to see the prisoners' eyes swell with tears. Many were beaten enough, but few were burned. They had been attacked by a group of Fire soldiers armed with their ridged glaives, she knew, merely by recognizing the hack-job sawing effect on the shoulder of one man. He could die any minute.

"Earth nation," her father drawled. He continued, imperative, "Do not trouble yourself with this Resistance I have heard so much about.

"Wiser men have turned and fled, and found themselves trapped. Fools, however, continue to come in and believe that the words of peasants and beggars from the Earth would sway me, or that I would take pity on the crumbling remains of what was once a formidable enemy. But no, Fire nation does not have pity or remorse for those that stand in our way.

"I was told by a previous infidel that the mountains didn't burn. This, I know to be true. No man or god could possibly change that. However, he seemed to have forgotten that the Earth nation is not made of mountains. The Earth nation is a pile of tiny, insignificant rocks, and it can be scattered. It can be scorched. It can be stripped so barren that none would ever dare hope to rekindle life in it."

He paused, and Azula looked up at her father with admiration. The men seemed to be shrinking back, against the hands of their holders, and one had fallen dead. Azula had watched their faces grow from fear to pure horror, the way their eyes filled, the way the tears streamed. One broke out in sobs, and Lord Ozai turned his eyes away with disgust.

"That is why you shall never be victorious. That is why this Resistance is a thing wasted, when your time would be better spent fleeing and praying for an immediate death. It is your pathetic children, and your contemptible women, who will be slaughtered and burnt to the ground next, without their men there to console them in death."

He stopped pacing, halting in front of the youngest. The boy couldn't have been a day over fourteen, and the cut on his eyebrow oozed slowly, the blood mingling with the tears from below.

"Kill all but this one," he commanded, and Azula drew herself up taller, her eyebrows lifting. Her eyes darted between her father and the prisoners, excited, and the wide grin on her face changed to a look of unadulterated anticipation at what was happening.

Just like her father, she didn't even flinch when the armed guards executed their prisoners, swiftly and efficiently. Not a single drop of blood landed on the floor, and the bodies were hauled off while the remaining boy sniffled and cried, utterly scarred and afraid.

"Can you run fast, boy?" Lord Ozai said. From his tone, one might have assumed he was politely asking for a cup of tea, and this did nothing to console the poor boy, who cast himself at the Lord's feet, prostrate, with his face against the floor. Azula squirmed on the spot, seeing him beg and snivel, and she resisted the dangerous urge to laugh. He was so _funny_, so pathetic, with his hands clutching towards the hem of Ozai's robe, but not quite reaching. His sheer submissiveness thrilled her to the bones.

"Take p-pity on us," the boy choked out, and Lord Ozai let out a relaxed breath.

"Fire army is going to bring six long-range combat units within firing range of the town of Jii Niàn Tou and wipe it clean of Earthbenders," Ozai said, "_Will _you run fast, boy?"

The boy stopped shivering and crying for a moment, and there was silence. Slowly, inch by inch, he lifted his head, to raise his eyes to the ceiling, and onto Lord Ozai's steeled, calm face.

"You," he choked out, "would... would let me warn them?"

"If you can run fast enough," Ozai said. "On your feet, scum."

Scrambling as if the fires of hell itself were clawing at his legs, the boy found his feet, and he stood in Ozai's shadow, breathing hard. His bloody, tear-streaked face blossomed with a terrified hope, though Azula figured he must have known it was fruitless. But she, too, wondered, and she looked to her father with wonder.

She knew it couldn't have been pity. Azula recognized pity when she saw it, she never forgot the sickly sweet looks her mother would have given Zuko if he so much as said boo about his _nasty_, _sneaky_ sister. She understood what sort of flaw and weakness it took to display such a lowly emotion, and her father would never display such foolish things.

"But allow me to give you a parting gift," Lord Ozai said, slowly, in his pleasantly twisted rumble, "If you'll restrain him, I will give him something to remind him and his people of what the Fire nation thinks of resistance and mutiny."

The boy's fleeting glimpse of hope seemed to disappear, under the shadow of this foreboding implication. Lord Ozai unfolded his hands from behind his back.

"Those we release have the choice of running to save themselves, or running to die with their kin. And in case they do not have the honour of men and choose to save themselves..."

Lord Ozai lifted one hand to hang in front of the boy's face, palm flat, his long, elegant fingers together. Slowly, he dropped his ring and pinky fingers to tuck against his palm, and everyone felt the heat in the room rise dramatically.

"... we leave them a parting mark, to remind them of their cowardice and inferiority. To remind them of their dishonour."

Azula couldn't contain her excitement, her smile, her sheer pleasure at her father's words, and at the boy's obvious and painful discomfort. The boy sobbed again, and Azula clenched her hands in anticipation. She _wanted_ this. She reveled in his suffering, at the heat enveloping the room, and at the fireball quickly igniting in her father's palm.

The fireball grew to be the size of an apple, and the fire curled in a continuous sphere, like a rolling ball, spinning madly and bending into itself. It was an inferno of constant heat, not pulsing but growing steadily hotter, until Azula felt ever her own forehead beat with sweat. It was the same as with Zuko, a week previous.

The boy shrieked and screamed, feet straining to push him away, but the guards on either side of him overpowered his feeble strength. He could not move as Lord Ozai brought the fireball forward, pushing it straight into the boy's jaw, just as one would push a blade into the skin. The ball diffused, slightly, but engulfed the skin of the boy's chin nonetheless, and the boy's screams would ring in Azula's ears for days.

It was a beautiful, pleasure-arousing noise, and she couldn't stifle a laugh.

The boy's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed in the guards' arms when the fire dissipated. His weight hung, uselessly, until one jerked him conscious. His jaw was blackened and had the texture of leather, and Azula recognized it as a third-degree burn, the same as Zuko's.

There was no pity for traitors, even if Zuko was a prince. Their father was impeccable in his ruthlessness, and Azula wished to be the same ruler he was someday.

"Bring him to the gate and throw him out," Lord Ozai said.

The boy was falling into shock. He couldn't carry his own weight, and his breath came in short stabs, his eyes fluttering crazily. He couldn't have been a day over fourteen, the same age as Azula.

The guards did so, bowing out of the royalty's presence, and Azula let out one last excited breath before turning to her father. She couldn't contain the next question.

"Will you teach me to do it, father?"

Lord Ozai looked down at her with his cold eyes, his mouth still drawn into that firm, unyielding line. There was no trace of love or fondness in his look to his daughter, but anyone who knew his face would understand the limitless pride in his expression, then.

"Temper your reactions, temper the flame."

She knew he meant "yes".



The stains on the desk would not come clean. Her eyes stung with tears as she scrubbed, ruthlessly driving the scouring pad across the wood, until the was ruining its polish. But still, the black ink would not come out without scarring the surface.

The wicked girl had purposely dumped the ink all over the table, when Moemi had objected to leaving a "gift" in Zuko's room. Her common senses told her the gift was a dangerous one, but she had only objected because she knew she wasn't allowed in Prince Zuko's quarters. If she had been caught, she would have been fired, and she wasn't one for taking risks.

Now, though, Moemi figured she might have been better off leaving the gift, rather than working her fingers to the bone on this ink and being subjected to Princess Azula's threats.

All the while, Azula just lay back on her bed, watching Moemi work and giggling on occasion. The maid would look up, periodically, towards the demanding princess, and give her angry, tear-strewn looks. Azula would only smirk and chide her, waving one finger.

"I'll tell Father you dumped it everywhere after you yelled at me," she would taunt, her golden eyes alight with charm and her lips curving into a smile. Moemi figured Azula was too young, at age eleven, to be staining her lips red as wine, but there was nothing that anyone could do to stop her.

The girl had a fiery temper.

"Please, Princess," Moemi could only say. If she said anything about how she would lose her job, and how she had struggled to get away from her family and have a job that paid enough to support her. Azula would only exploit her fears if she knew how desperately Moemi needed to keep this job, or else return to the brothels or her terrible family.

"I don't care," Azula replied, and Moemi heard her shift against her pillows. "After all... I've had lots of maids before and you're too wimpy to survive here for long, whether I tell them or not how _nasty_ you've been to me."

Moemi recalled how her sister had been as arrogant as Azula, once upon a time. Mei-Xie was a selfish, greedy thing until their mother had beaten and scolded it out of her, and Moemi would have thought that, in a nation so strict and disciplinary, a noble like Azula would have been brought to her senses long ago.

"Wicked child," Moemi said, under her breath, facing the wall. There was another shuffle of pillows and Azula let out a very predatory breath.

"What did you say?" she demanded.

Moemi turned to look at her, putting down the scouring pad and ignoring her blackened fingers. Azula was standing on her bed, her eyebrows furrowed and her smile gone. Moemi just stared.

"What did you say?" Azula repeated, calmly.

"I said you were a wond–"

Azula cut her off with a sharp, dangerous, "No you didn't."

Moemi wouldn't speak. Azula, barely chest-level compared to the maid, was intimidating and cunning, even as an eleven year old. There was something frightening about a child with that sort of power over adults, power over eighteen year old women, power over her.

"No," Moemi said.

Azula was approaching like a cat would, with long, graceful steps, but the look in her eyes was positively leonine. She stopped mere feet in front of Moemi, looking straight up at her and into her eyes. Moemi froze, awkwardly, paralyzed with fear.

Would she be fired, or dishonoured? Would she be thrown back onto the streets, after working so hard to get here in the first place, all for the sake of an ungrateful child who caused more trouble than she needed to?

Azula seemed to analyze her with a clinical efficiency. Moemi edged back, and she said, "Princess?"

Princess Azula shot forward, suddenly, and Moemi's brain hardly registered the hot lick of fire coming towards her until it was too late. It plunged into her stomach, and Azula ripped the scream from her maid's mouth with little mercy. Moemi slammed back against the wall and sank against it, her arms flying across her stomach to smother the smouldering fabric. The tears welled in her eyes overflowed and streamed down her face.

Azula only giggled, and stepped forward, taking her maid's chin in her face. The smirk appeared on those wine-red lips, full and young.

"I just want to see if I can do it, like Father taught me," she said, as if it explained her actions, as if it excused them. Azula lifted one hand as Moemi tried to get away, and Azula shifted to pressure the scorched young woman into the corner, between the wall and the desk. Moemi's hand shot out and landed against the desk, in a funny sort of spasm, and she struck the rest of the bottle of ink.

It spilled over Azula's front, and Moemi watched the already remorseless girl's face constrict into one of anger.

"Why, _you little_..."

Azula didn't even finish. She drove her hand forward, with the ball of flames surging on her palm. As her father had shown her before, she drove it into the maid's face. Moemi shrieked, and Azula concentrated.

Moemi slumped, and Azula let the heat fade.

For a moment, she stood over the body, unsure if it was alive or dead. She wasn't afraid to check, and she pushed the maid's head back, so that her jaw lolled and she let out a shuddering breath. But for the moment, she had a more pressing issue to look at: the fact that the burn was nowhere near as severe as it should have been.

Azula dropped the girl's head, and stared at the burn with a puzzled look. She stayed this way even when the guards came, and she brushed them off callously.

She was beginning to grow aware of her power, and how it could be used. But that would never be good enough until she could match the scars her father so perfectly left.



"Isn't she beautiful?"

Kyon paused, midway through the motion of loading a live chickduck into her bucket, and she held the docile thing between her hands as she looked up to her older sister. Shin was looking up at a poster, an elegantly painted scroll tacked to the community board. The edges were curled, and Shin ran her fingers along them carefully, smoothing them out. They bounced back into their curls, and she fixed the tacks to hold them straight.

"She is," Kyon replied, with a bright smile, as soon as she recognized the girl on the poster. "I wish I was as beautiful as Princess Azula!"

Shin looked up at the poster with a smile, admiring and so sincere, even if it was just a painted version of the Crown Princess of the Fire nation. The brushstrokes were fine, tracing out perfect details, from the painstakingly gold-wrought crests and jewels adorning her silk robes, to the magnificent arch of her eyebrows. Her eyes were painted on in a satiny gold, shining and life-like.

Kyon put the chickduck in the bucket and it scrabbled against the tin sides for a moment, and then settled. She picked it up and brought it closer to her sister and the beloved poster. Shin was struggling with the difficult characters written on the side, even if they were written in informal text most peasants could read. The title was illegible to either sister, for it was written in the fancy style of nobles.

"She's making an appearance," Shin said, "at the... at the..."

"At the palace gardens. The public gardens," Kyon supplied, scanning the characters, and she skipped one or two she didn't know from school. Perhaps another day, she could read them, her language always had been stronger than Shin's. Kyon came across a character she knew very, very well, and hopped up and down in excitement, startling the poor bird in her bucket into flapping about again. She exclaimed, "She's going to be made a Master! Oh wow! We have to see it!"

"But it's tomorrow," Shin said, with disappointment. "I have to wait in line for rations... it's my turn."

Kyon bit her lip and looked at her sister, embarrassed suddenly. She couldn't go on her own, and there was no way the eldest sister in their family, Hea, would. But would their older brother, Seung, take her turn?

"We can ask Seung," Kyon suggested, hopefully, though she didn't carry much optimism for it happening.

Shin looked at the poster one last time, sadly, and she sighed.

"No," she said, "he'll want to see her. He's been in love with her for years."

This was true, Kyon realized. Seung had been infatuated with the Princess since she had been made Crown Princess two years earlier, shortly after Prince Zuko's banishment, and he had been interested in her since before that. There was a poster of her he had carefully taken from the community board in their home, one from her birthday celebration notice, and it was kept in a drawer where he could reach it easily. She, Shin and Hea had watched him unfurl it many times, and stare at it wistfully, sighing to himself.

Ah, the lovesick were a sad variety to watch, but they didn't have time to worry about that when there was a food shortage and rations to retrieve.



"Such good fortune, Zhi! She is such a beautiful, wonderful young woman!"

The teashop owner looked up from his kettles with a smile, having recognized the voice of one of his favourite customers. The woman was entering with another of his favourite customers, both with brilliant smiles lining their faces. They approached their usual table and sat down, and he immediate bustled over.

"Meihui, Zhi," he said, brightly, and the two old women greeted him happily. He said, "I'll put on a pot of the usual for you."

"Not today, Jianjun," Meihui said, and she laughed as she said it, the beautifully old lines of her face creasing deeply when she did so. In her eighties, she was still just as vibrant as she had been when he had opened his teashop sixty years earlier, though her skin was old and her features baggy. Meihui said, "Today we would like tea for celebration."

"But of course," Jianjun replied, "May I inquire the occasion?"

"Princess Azula is being sent to retrieve General Iroh and capture Zuko," Zhi replied, delicately. She was much more calm than Meihui, but she was very happy nonetheless. "Zuko, I am not so sure about, as we could do without such cowardice in our courts, but we can always rejoice at the return of the General."

Very few people still referred to Iroh as a general, as he had quit the position some years ago, after his son's death and his cancellation of the siege of Ba Sing Se. But Meihui and Zhi had enjoyed tea with him for decades before his shame, and they treated him with enormous respect nonetheless. As nobles in the Fire nation court, it was a funny position, but both elderly women were careful with their words.

"I'm sure you can," Jianjun said, brightly. "I'm sure the Princess will be overwhelmingly successful. She always has been. But I'll get that pot on."

He departed, quickly, slipping behind the counter and humming as he began to brew. The women fell into conversation praising the Fire Lord's decision and Iroh, and discussing Zuko's banishment, sounding almost pleased about it. But the conversation turned, inevitably, to Princess Azula's perfection.

"I have never seen such a sweet girl," Meihui was saying, "When she was a child, I remember the fits that would wake the whole palace, but as she has grown, she has found peace in herself and calmed… never has the Fire nation seen such a diplomatic and intelligent Crown Princess, not since Princess Ursa. But Ursa was such a doormat. Princess Azula is a strong young woman."

"Yes," Zhi smiled, "and such grace! Never have I seen firebending so precise and elegant, not since Lord Ozai himself. And to produce lightning! She is simply a remarkable girl, she will make a good leader."

"Of course," Meihui replied. "There could not be a better heir for Lord Ozai. Thank heavens he cast aside that wretched boy, or else we would all mourning. Such a disrespectful, untalented boy could never make a fit leader. What would he do if he were leader? Meekly ask Ba Sing Se and the Earth kingdom to co-operate?"

She scoffed, and Zhi shook her head and clucked her tongue at the very idea.

"Most likely," Zhi said.

"And no good would come of it," Meihui said, sharply, but then her expression softened back into that smile. She said, suddenly brighter, "Ah yes! I recall now what I wanted to say to Jianjun."

She turned his way in her seat, and he looked up from his kettles once more.

"Pardon?" he replied.

"Why were you not at the celebration for her being entitled a master firebender?" she asked, and Jianjun gave an apologetic bow of his head.

"My wife was ill. I could not leave her side, but I heard that Princess Azula was clothed beautifully," he said, knowing exactly where to fish for praise. He removed the tea from the stove and poured it into two mugs, without spilling a drop, and placed them in front of the women. Both thanked him, and then Meihui reacted exactly as he figured she would.

"Thank you for such a fine compliment," she replied, for she had specially made the Princess' ceremonial gown. Generally, a servant would have made it under the direction of a noble, but on rare occasion, and courtier such as Meihui would dedicate her time and skills to crafting such a thing. It was a rare but beautiful opportunity, even if it required work. "You have not seen it?"

"No, lady," Jianjun replied, honestly. "With so many ill, I have been unable to leave my teashop. I can only listen to the news brought to my ears by my fine customers."

"Princess Azula will mend this country, and make it ever more prosperous," Zhi commented offhand, and Meihui nodded. Zhi continued, "No one will fall ill in Azula's Fire nation."

There was a general consensus of agreement, among the three, and Meihui turned the conversation back to the ceremonial gown.

"But you should have seen her! She looked simply stunning, in the traditional colours. The black silks and gold threads were brought from the best weavers in the entire nation, the shoes were hand-made from the finest materials, with heels made of solid black jade, and you know how expensive and rare a commodity that is," Meihui said, proudly, "It wore my fingers to the bones for that gown, and the Princess looked simply radiant in it. It brought out her beautiful eyes more than anything, and she did not singe even a single thread of it, she is so skilled with her bending."

Jianjun let out an impressed breath, and he said, "I regret not seeing such a thing! And such dedication, on your part, dear Meihui!"

"I could do no less for a young woman so fine, especially one so beloved and incredible as she is," Meihui replied. "And what else could I do, for the one who is rising despite her wretched brother's failures, and overshadowing his failures with her accomplishments? She brought down the last battalion of the Earth kingdom, on the north-eastern coast, within six hours, when the generals there before her could not do it in six days."

"We've all heard her victory fanfares," Jianjun commented, with a smile. "I have high hopes for our nation now that she is leading so many battles. I only hope our soldiers can be ruthless and efficient with her there to lead them. But surely if anyone could find General Iroh and the banished Zuko, she will be the fastest."

"Of course!" Meihui said, with a laugh. "There is nothing our Princess cannot do!"



The map was beautiful, set into the floor with amber waters and garnet lands, all tiled and elegantly set. It covered the entire room, expansive and wide, and Azula could walk across the world with ease. Every land was red, Earth and Water and Air and all the uncharted lands, all bathed blood red to match their bright and prosperous future. The Fire nation would overrule and conquer, feed its people, and foster an entirely new life. A better one.

Azula strode across it with confidence, crossing the ocean in six steps and ploughing over the flat mountain chain and the great Lake Laogai to stand on the city of Ba Sing Se. She brought the toe of one boot down on its inner city, and she twisted her foot there, casually, as she looked over her shoulder to her father.

He watched her with a stern look, his strides across the universe much slower and even elegantly lazy, and he paused in the middle to watch his daughter. Azula smiled, wickedly.

"Father," Azula said, "one day, I will do what my pathetic Uncle could never do –– I'll capture Ba Sing Se, and I will do it in your name, for you."

"When can I expect the city's allegiance?" Lord Ozai replied, simply, and Azula only repeated that brilliant smile. She kneeled over the city, folding her hands on her knee, and she stared up at him beautifully.

"By the end of next winter," she declared.

"Just a year?" the Fire Lord replied, "Iroh could not in six hundred days, with all the finest armies. My daughter, empty promises are rewarded with pain. You will be held to your words."

Azula wasn't shaken, and she merely replied, softly, "But of course. Father, do you know where you are standing?"

He glanced at his feet, imperiously, and then cast his eyes around the room. A slight smirk appeared on his face, the corners of his mouth twisting up curiously. He said, smugly, "Where am I, daughter?"

She paused for a moment and surveyed him, and she bowed her head for a moment before lifting it and rising to her feet.

"Why, you're the center of the universe, Father, and your wish is my command."




	3. Domestic, Public

Been a while? Maybe. I'm a good chunk of the way into chapter 5, actually. I just tend to spend a lot of time rethinking and rewriting. So far, I've clocked almost 100,000 words. That's pretty impressive, for someone used to writing one-shots!

Now, let's kick it off, starting from the end of the second season.

**CHAPTER THREE: DOMESTIC-PUBLIC**



They were an odd sight.

It was cold and dry out, without a shred of humidity in the air, and yet the sweat rolled off them as if they were walking the deserts. The shortest of the three was miserably wiping the sweat from her face, and brushing long white fur from her clothes. There was a funny bulge in the back of her apron, and a long brown tail stuck out from the side, as well as an ear. The girl in the middle was carrying a boy wrapped in a blue parka that was far too big for him, and struggling in vain to support his weight completely, so he was more draped over her arms than in them. The tallest boy carried a pack, and nothing else, and his teeth were grit tightly, as if he thought they would fall out if he loosened them. The giant bison behind them all did nothing to ease the clash of their mismatched heights, nationalities, colours and moods.

They had been traveling for some time, obviously, with their cumbersome weights.

"Are you sure, Sokka?" Toph said, "I think we should get farther away from Ba Sing Se."

"We've got to find a place to spend the night," Katara said. She was fussing over Aang, keeping her eyes intently on Aang's eyelids.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to be in a smelly old tavern," Toph grumbled. She reached around her and gave the lemur in her apron a nudge, and said, "Stop wiggling around in there, Momo."

The winged lemur gave a happy chatter, and Katara looked at the place wearily. Sokka was eyeing it with little worry, but with plenty of relief.

"Me either, Toph. Me either," he said, and he pushed the door open for them. As Katara passed him, at a turtle's pace, he said, "Let me take him again, you've got toothpick arms."

"Hah," Katara said dryly, catching eye contact for the briefest second before turning all her attention back to Aang. She shifted her grip on him and pulled up his hood, looking at his unconscious face with something akin to sorrow and protectiveness. "You'll jostle him too much."

"If you say so," Sokka said, closing the door behind them after giving the bison a curt wave and a clipped, "Sit, stay!"

The tavern was crowded and difficult to maneuver, what with all the people. It was a mismatched and odd place, so the four of them hardly looked out of place. There were men and women young and old, women cradling babies, and men drinking feverishly, as if they could wash away their problems with drink alone. Sokka carved them a path between the bustling tables and the jostling people, and up to the barkeep.

"Watcha got ther'?" the barkeep asked, leaning forward over the counter. His hair was tied into a greasy topknot with what looked like old fishing twine, and his skin shone with sweat. A bit of spittle shot off his lip as he spoke, and Toph was the only one who didn't look mildly disgusted, for obvious reasons.

Katara held Aang closer to her chest, and Sokka reached over and drew the hood lower on Aang's forehead, just in case the arrow was showing. Toph was trying hard to keep a straight face, with Momo hidden inside her apron.

"Our friend is injured," Sokka said, "We need a room. We have money."

The barkeep shifted on his elbows, his lips parting into a crooked smile, revealing jagged teeth. When Sokka kept staring, waiting for the answer, he just laughed outright. Sokka's look, which had been tired but mildly hopeful, vanished, and was replaced by frustration. "So?"

"Ah haven't had an available room in two months," the barkeep said, heartily, "Too many folks headin' to Ba Sing Se, see."

"Are there Fire soldiers here?" Sokka asked, none too optimistic. He folded his arms, and shifted the weight of the pack on his back. It was uncomfortably heavy, but at least he could support its weight, while Katara still struggled to keep a hold on Aang. She finally settled on sitting down in a nearby unoccupied chair, Aang across her lap.

"We're a secret town for a reason, boy," the barkeep snorted, "we set up secret communities to avoid that, and tho' we risk discovery every day, we stay open ta help people get to the citadel. Fire's got no place here, just moving Earth."

Sokka looked mildly relieved, as did the rest of them, but it was short lived, with the realization this town was funneling people into Ba Sing Se. The city had fallen barely hours ago, and it was likely few people knew of its loss. The residents probably didn't even know yet, and knowing Azula, they probably wouldn't know for a week yet, as she closed the army in on all sides and led them right in at once, or so Sokka could theorize. The capture of Ba Sing Se was still preventable, providing someone rode in and killed off all the traitors, those three horrible girls, the Dai Li and Prince Issues, but with Aang unconscious and all but dead, and no reliable back-up, there wasn't much Sokka, Toph or Katara could do about it.

"Don't let anyone else leave for Ba Sing Se," Sokka ordered, raising his voice to stress the importance. "It's fallen into Fire nation control, and if they go, they'll be trapped within the walls."

It was one of those moments where the room seemed to fall silent at the wrong time, so that everything Sokka said was magnified, and he suddenly felt the pressure eyes on him from all angles. Men and women, young and old, were looking at him with some sort of disbelief, anger, or doubt, and some let out disgusted gasps.

"Boy," the barkeep said, his voice dipping lower and rougher, "such a thin' is impossible. Don't even joke, lest it come true."

"It is true," Sokka replied, hotly. "I'm not joking."

He didn't seem too convincing to the hordes of people hanging onto his words. There were a few mutters, and then one man spoke up, saying loud, dreadful things that made Toph brace herself, and Katara's mouth set into a hard line.

"They could be spies, from the colony," the man said, and Sokka let out a loud scoff.

"Come on. These two are like, twelve, she's fourteen..." he gestured around Toph, Aang and Katara, and then shrugged easily, though his temper was visibly rising and showing on his face. "I'm sixteen. We're hardly old enough to be Fire nation spies. Plus, look." He held out the collar of his shirt. "Water tribe. So is she, and she's Earth nation. And he's the Av––"

Sokka was suddenly pushed up against the bar, and the collar of his shirt was taken up in the fist of a very aggravated man. Sokka protested immediately, but he was cut off by the man, who said, "Sixteen was old enough for the Fire brat who killed my son, boy, don't you dare tell me to let you pass unguarded."

Sokka grimaced, and Katara began to try to get on her feet to help him, but Toph was faster and more efficient.

"Back OFF," Toph said, stepping between them and shoving off the man. Despite being a good head shorter than Sokka, let alone the tall man, and only being twelve, she was boyish and had a good sense of strength. He released Sokka and moved back, and Toph said, "Don't touch him."

Sokka felt a bit embarrassed that Toph had to defend him, but he could be cool with it as long as they made it out of here. Toph let an angry breath and Sokka moved to stand equal with her, not about to let her stand up to some jerk alone. The man looked at Toph with an angry snarl, and it was Sokka's turn to snap, "Don't touch her."

"Get out of my bar," said the barkeep, behind them, and Sokka dared turn his head to look at the man. His mild friendliness was completely gone, disappeared under a steely hatred, and he repeated himself when Sokka only lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

"Excuse me?" he said, bewildered.

"Get out of this village and never return," the barkeep said, sharply.

"But if they're Fire nation, they'll know our location," the burly man in front of them said, honestly concerned, and the barkeep took a moment, while Sokka launched into protests that would all prove fruitless and pointless. The barkeep shook his head, sending a wad of spittle flying across the bar.

"We don't want trouble, and they are just kids," the barkeep said, "but I mean it. Get out, don't come back. We don't want or need trouble, especially from people suggesting the great Ba Sing Se could ever fall!"

"But it did," Sokka protested. This time, when the burly man reached for him, he sidestepped, nearly bowling over Toph in the crowded space, and he lifted his hands in protest. "Alright," he said. "Alright. We're leaving. Happy? Come on, Katara, Toph."

He grabbed Toph by the forearm and Katara around the shoulders, and he urged them up and out. They followed, hesitantly, and Sokka took a moment to take Aang in his arms, as he doubted Katara's ability to carry him any longer.

Worry flooded them as they exited, the man following them to the door to ensure their departure, and they started down the road, away from Ba Sing Se, immediately. Appa fell into step behind them, lumbering and huge, and as they walked, Katara fussed over Aang, worrying with how Sokka was holding him, with how it could jostle him. Periodically, Aang's eyes twitched, as if he were trying to come around, but no matter what Katara did, he didn't awaken.

"Let's fly," Katara said, "it's faster, especially if we want to get to the next down before we all fall asleep."

"Not this stupid chase thing again," Toph said, "and I am NOT riding Appa bareback anymore. After getting chased out of Ba Sing Se, no way. You can't make me."

"Katara," Sokka said, "the Fire nation's probably swarming the city already, as soon as they get word that that witch has it. Last thing we need is to raise the alarm that we're around, or that the Avatar's still around. Let's just get out of town and make camp."

"Make camp with _what?_" Katara demanded, and Sokka looked at Appa's back, and then he gave an odd sort of sigh.

"Huh," he said, "I see your point. I've got my sleeping bag, but the tent's back at the house in Ba Sing Se. Unless you want to rough it."

"I need to get Aang to a safe place to heal him," Katara said. "This can't be good for him. Let's ride Appa and get where we need to go faster."

"Point taken, but that's irresponsible," Sokka said, argumentative, "Appa may be faster, Katara, but the Fire nation can find us much faster on a bison we ADVERTISED as being Aang's. And if they catch us with his body, who knows what they'd do? That's not exactly helpful, either."

Katara didn't seem sure of whether the risk was worth it or not.

"What are we going to do?" Katara worried.

"Where's your optimism now?" Sokka said, letting a bit of sarcasm in, and she pointedly ignored him, instead concerning herself with finding shelter. Toph scoffed and blew her bangs up.

"What am I, chopped liver? I can make us a place to stay if we need it, just as long as we're far from here. This place gives me the creeps, and no offense, but I'm pretty sure they're going to notice Appa."

Katara was a bit less concerned, with this reassurance, but it didn't change Aang's state. She seemed to be an odd mix and match between fury, anxiety and confusion, going about here and there, stopping Sokka every other moment to ensure Aang was alive. It brought his nerves up, too, and he was already feeling the grind of aggravation and confusion himself. They just fed off each others worries, and if Toph wasn't there to mediate in her usual style –– demands and admonishments, and implications of stupidity in one or both parties –– they might have killed each other.

And, when they neared the other side of the village, that was when they met the children. Sokka spotted them first, but it was Toph who brought them to attention, her keen ears picking out a curious and intriguing thing: "abandoned, haunted house".

The children were in their house, the uncovered window allowing light to stream out, silhouetting the kids against the backgrounds. Sokka pressed his fingers to his lips with a "sshh" and they all slunk closer to the window. Sure enough, crouched under the window, under the shadows of the sill and the trees, they could hear every word.

"So there's this house," a young male voice said. "A big, dangerous house!"

"A house?" a younger, female voice said. She sounded terrified, and Sokka nearly snickered, glancing towards Katara, who frowned and elbowed him. Apparently, she did not want to be reminded of that time he convinced her a giant fanged penguin lurked in the nearby glaciers, and hungered for the flesh of a young female bender with dumb hair.

"Yeah, that's why Mom doesn't let us go too far into the woods," the boy said, darkly, "because there's a house up on the hill, and a ghost lives there."

"I'm not afraid," the girl said, but the trio under the window could hear the fear in her voice. The girl continued, "What kind of ghost is it?"

"A nasty spirit, who drags children from the trees and up to his home, where he makes them into jiaozi."

"Jiaozi is made from kids?!" the little girl whined, concerned.

"Yeah, that's what makes it so bad," the boy said.

"I hate it," the girl whined.

And that was when a door banged, prompting all three under the windowsill to straighten up. Someone had entered the room, and Toph covered her ears for a second, until a motherly voice said, "What are you two still doing up at this hour?! Telling ghost stories?! You know you're supposed to be in bed!"

Sokka, who had been convinced they were caught and done for, let out a loud breath of relief, loud enough that Katara scrambled to jam her hand over his mouth and she hissed his name, angrily. The children, who had started apologizing and making excuses, fell silent, and so did the mother.

After a moment of baited silence, the little girl piped up, fearfully, "The spirit, the spirit! He's here to turn us into dumplings!"

"Mao, get back in your bed, it's probably just some animal," the mother scoffed, though she sounded unsure. Her footsteps brought her closer to the window, and all three stiffened.

She leaned out from the window, far enough that if any of them looked straight up, they could see her torso. She was looking straight ahead, and then she let out a gasp that told the three of them they had been caught... not because she had seen them, so close and tucked away, but because Appa was still standing on the road, plain as day.

"It's the Avatar's bison!" the mother gasped. "Just like from the poster!"

Sokka let out, loudly, "See? I knew they'd notice!"

Katara and Toph wheeled their heads to look in his direction, and Sokka looked up. The woman looked down, her eyes widening, and then she let out a belated shriek of surprise. Sokka acted quick –– he jumped to his feet and raised his hands in surrender, and Katara struggled to get to her feet with Aang in her arms.

The woman shrieked again at Sokka's movement, and he reached up and said, "Shh! Shh! Lady! Sorry! Hi! We need your help! Thanks!"

She stopped yelling and the kids stopped making noise. Sokka was pretty sure the little girl was crying, but he couldn't see her, he could just hear her sniffles. The woman calmed, slowly, and she breathed hard, still shocked.

"What were you doing there, you scamp?!" she demanded.

Sokka highly objected to being called a scamp, at his age, but that was beside the point. He said, concerned, "I know it's kind of weird, but I'm traveling with the Avatar, I have him here. Could you give us a place to stay for the night?"

The lady stared, and then she stammered, "W-What?"

"Told you it was weird," Sokka said, "Please? We'll be gone before you know it." When the woman went on being stunned, Sokka gave up on her, and he said, "Katara, you talk to her, she thinks I'm crazy."

Katara finally found her feet, and the woman jumped again. She held Aang carefully, and Sokka reached down and pulled Toph up. She whacked her head on the sill in the process, a thing that made the lady jump yet again, twice.

"Watch it, doofus," Toph said, and Sokka rubbed the top of her head. Toph scowled.

"How many of you are down there?!" the woman demanded, terrified, and she looked under, peering through the shadows to see more. There were none, fortunately for her, and Sokka urged Katara on.

"I'm sorry about this," Katara said, earnestly, "We're looking for a place to stay, it's an emergency... this is the Avatar, and he's badly hurt, we've just come from Ba Sing Se. We need a safe place to care for him. We heard your children talking about an abandoned house, and wanted to know where it was, but we'd be grateful if you could help us."

The woman seemed to be calming down. She said, concerned, "Why didn't you just ask someone? Why did you leave Ba Sing Se for here? You must have passed a thousand houses."

"No, ma'am," Katara said, and Sokka had to look away when the tears started rolling down Katara's face. "Ba Sing Se wasn't safe. And now he's hurt and we desperately need to find a place to stay. I'm begging you."

The woman hesitated, and then she said, "I could never live with myself if I turned the Avatar away. Come in, I'll unlock the front door."

"Mom, is it a spirit?" the boy asked, and when the mother moved away and disappeared further into the house, Sokka made a face at him that could only be described as disgusting. The boy hid under his covers, and Sokka smirked.

That'd show the kid to make stupid faces at him.

"Come on," he said, and he took Aang from Katara, "good thing strangers trust you."

"Maybe if you didn't introduce yourself as a weirdo, you wouldn't have that problem," Katara said, wiping at her eyes as they rounded the house.

Sokka glanced at Appa and he said, "Come on, buddy, let's get you off the road."

The woman, a widow named Sun, let them into the house with an apprehensive look. Katara dropped to the floor almost immediately, Aang's weight too heavy for her to support for too long, and she eased him into a more comfortable position on the floor, facedown. Carefully arranging the hood of Sokka's parka so that it cushioned his head, she ripped away the last of Aang's shirt. Sokka stood over her, quietly, and Toph seemed to wait for something.

Sun said, "Is he dead?"

The tone her voice took suggested she was terrified, mournful, but with the slightest bit of hope. She glanced at Sokka, who shook his head quietly, and Katara set on trying to heal him. Dip after dip of water slipped into Aang's skin and back out, but nothing changed.

The mark where Azula's lightning had forked in an out again was just a mark. Not bleeding, not broken, but the skin was fried and burnt, and the area all around it was an angry red.

"Will he be okay?" Sun said, almost more to herself. Her children were out of bed, clutching her legs and watching around her with fear and apprehension, as the Avatar did not stir. The little girl buried her nose against her mother's robe and sniffled.

"I… don't know," Katara said, but she wouldn't be defeated. She kept at it, even if the sweat was pouring down her forehead and dripping into Aang. Sokka had never seen her get so physically exerted while healing.

It was the sign of fruitlessness. Three hours of healing led to fruitlessness.

"Is he dead?" the little boy asked, when Katara sat back on her heels and closed her eyes, bringing her hands to her own face to cover them. He waited for his answer, and Sokka felt his throat go dry. Katara withdrew her hands, and looked at the boy with a childish sort of fear in her eyes. She was trying to hold back tears.

"No," she croaked, "he's alive. But… he's sleeping, and I can't get him to wake up."

Tears rolled down Sun's face, and she sank to her knees without a sound. Sokka watched her, awkwardly, and the kids did the same. Toph swallowed a lump in her throat, and Sokka looked away from the whole scene.

"We're doomed," Sun said, bowing her head, "the Avatar is lost."

Katara wiped at her eyes, and she said, with the slightest bit of anger, "No. Aang's still alive. We still have an Avatar, and when he wakes up, he'll help all of us take back everything the Fire nation has stolen."

Sun's tears kept rolling, and she said, in a deadly whisper, "I've seen many people fall asleep wounded and never wake up. No Avatar can reawaken the dead. He can't get us back everything the Fire nation stole, not the lives."

Katara paused, and Sokka reached out a hand to her. She ignored it.

"Let it go, Katara," he said, "let it go."

"He's not dead," Katara whispered back, almost as a hiss, "he's not dead and he'll wake up. Aang's alive. Aang's just as alive as he ever was. How dare you."

"He's left us once already, didn't he? My mother raised me on stories of the Avatar, and how he left us helpless," the woman said, awkwardly. "And in the end... all he's done is left us again."

"You dare you," Katara snapped. Sokka put a hand on her shoulder, and he took a deep breath. Katara was getting riled, between her anxiety, her exhaustion, and her ever-present need to save people.

"Get out of my house," Sun said, and the children exchanged worried looks. Sokka didn't want to put up a fight here. He took Katara by the hand.

"Come on, let's go," Sokka said.

"But," Katara said, angrily.

"Let's go, Katara," Sokka said, more firmly. He reached around her and rolled Aang over, and then picked him up. Toph headed out the door, and Sokka followed, with a pointed look at Katara. Katara didn't break eye contact with the woman until Sokka said, "_Katara_."

"I understand," Katara said, and she looked away, bitterly. She rose to her feet and followed Sokka to the door, teary and distressed. Sun closed the door behind them, with an anguished sob. Finally, she made noise.

"What are we going to do?" Toph asked, when they gathered around Appa's head. She squirmed, suddenly, as Momo climbed out of her apron to sit on Appa's nose. Sokka shook his head.

"I don't know," he said, "there are a lot of things we could do. I don't know if one's better than the other… we could find a place to stay, we could camp here, we could head to Chameleon Bay, we could… do anything, really."

"I don't want to travel long distances," Katara said, "And I don't know that a blockade against the Fire nation is safe."

"True," Sokka said. He rubbed his chin in worry. For a moment, there were no answers, so he said, "Say he never wakes up. What then?"

"What do you mean?" Katara said, testily.

"The Avatar wasn't reborn into the Water tribe because Aang was still alive, for a hundred years. Say he sleeps for the rest of his life. No new Avatar will come," Sokka said, hesitantly.

"None of us can be the judge of that," Katara said, "none of us can do anything about that right now. We can't predict that he'd never wake up. Don't even suggest we sacrifice him to get a new Avatar."

"I wasn't asking that," Sokka said, defensively. Katara didn't even reply.

Toph said, "The little boy's coming."

"What?"

"The little boy."

Sokka and Katara lifted their heads and looked towards the house. Sure enough, there was the boy, climbing through the open window, and as soon as he realized they had seen him, the boy pressed his fingers to his lips and hopped down. His sister appeared in the window, too, leaning out.

"You'd better go inside," Katara said, and Sokka almost rolled his eyes at the immediate mothering tone she took with the kid. Katara said, "You don't want to get caught."

"The cabin," the boy said, "the haunted one. You're not really going to stay there, are you?"

Katara and Sokka exchanged troubled looks. If they didn't have to, they wouldn't but it seemed there wasn't much of an option.

"We need a place to stay," Sokka said, "and no one here's offering, so we're going to make camp somewhere."

The boy looked sheepish. He said, "My sister, she... she's still little enough to believe it's really haunted, but..."

Sokka let a smile on, and he laughed, quietly, interrupting the boy. He said, "Yeah, she doesn't look it, but Katara's still afraid of ghosts. Real fun to have a little sister, isn't it?" He gestured at her with his shoulder, jostling Aang only slightly. Katara frowned, and Sokka said, "Where is this cabin? We'll go get rid of that dumpling fiend for you if you tell us how to get there. What do you say?"

"That's great," the boy said, nodding. He pushed by them to point down the road, and he said, "That way. If you keep walking that way, until the trees and bushes get so thick you can barely get through, there's a big rock. Someone bended it, so it's shaped like a big frog, if you squint."

"Gotcha," Sokka said.

"If you climb over it, and go straight up the hills for about an hour, you'll find it. There are frog-rocks along the way, if you look carefully."

Sokka smiled and nodded. "Great," he said. Katara breathed a sigh of relief, perhaps getting her optimism back, and Toph said, "Alright, a place that isn't Ba Sing Se."



The place was humble, that was for sure. Perhaps, a couple decades ago, it had been in a state suitable for habitation, but it was presently very run down. The weeds burst from cracks in the stone porch, and there was no glass in the windows. The sliding door had a gaping hole in it, and from the outside, Sokka could count six holes in the roof.

"Is it okay?" Toph asked, and Katara hesitated.

"We're not going to find better," Sokka said, and he started towards the door. Just in case, he pulled out his club and used it to pry the door open. He was almost wary of things that could pop out at him, but nothing tried to kill him, so he figured it was safe.

Katara asked, with baited breath, "Is it haunted?"

Sokka scoped what he could see of the room in the dark, and he replied, "It's a one-room place, so unless the ghost is in the cabinets or the stove, no, Katara. Don't be such a chicken."

The floor, covered with musty old tatami mats that reeked with age, was cold, and Sokka fumbled through the dim light to find a lantern. There was one hanging on a nail above the stone basin against the wall, and he tilted it curiously. Sure enough, there was oil left inside, and he grinned. Shucking off his bag, he rummaged for their tinder and flint. Within a minute, he had the light blaring, and the room was thrown into relief. In the bright light, Katara's weariness showed, and Sokka went to her and took Aang.

"Put him down, Katara, before you drop him," he ordered, and she reluctantly relinquished him. Sokka cradled the smaller boy with minimal difficulty, quite glad the kid ate cabbage instead of rocks. He didn't weigh as much as Sokka was expecting, though he was still awkward to carry. He nodded his head towards a rumpled up futon in one corner. "Katara, shake that thing out and I'll set him down there.

When Katara stopped stretching her arms, she did so, and Sokka knelt down to place Aang on it, but Katara chided him every other second.

"Mind his head," she said.

"I am," Sokka said, though he was actually just supporting Aang's shoulders and his knees, so his head lolled back. Katara reached over and helped hold him up, and helped Sokka lower Aang down even slower.

"You have to be gentle," she said imperiously, "Mind his head, mind his head! And don't put his back down like that–– BUT DON'T TURN HIM OVER. He can't support his own weight like that. Stop it. And not face-down, stop jostling him!! SOKKA!"

Sokka looked at Katara at eye-level, annoyed, and said, "Alright, shall I suspend him in mid-air?"

Katara opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped.

"That's right," Sokka said, and they lowered Aang to lie on his back. The boy didn't shift at all, didn't twitch. His chest just rose and fell, slowly, as if he were asleep. Katara stayed there to stare at him, glassy-eyed and concerned.

Meanwhile, Sokka went over and opened up the cabinets, hunting. There were assorted bits of old junk, and a futon. Sokka went about opening boxes and rummaging through buckets, finding an incomplete Pai Sho set, and a bunch of old candle oil and wick. There was a seedy-looking jar of honey on the shelf that he prodded with one finger. When he figured it was safe to touch, he turned it upside-down and watched.

The golden "liquid" was hard as amber, and it didn't budge, crusted over and rock-solid. Sokka stared at it in a strange sort of wonder, both disgusted and curious. He opened the container with much difficulty and brought it to his nose to sniff it.

Katara realized what he was up to and she left Aang's side, saying, "Sokka!" in a warning tone. She took it from him and made a face, realizing what it was up close. She recapped the jar and shoved it to the back of the cupboard. Sokka grimaced.

"Is it wrong that I'm so hungry that looked appetizing?"

"When was the last time we ate, ugh?" Toph commented. Momo poked his head out of her apron warily with a chirp, his great ears falling back and his nose twitching. Toph let out an exhausted but happy sigh and she slumped down to the floor, spreading out. She did cover her nose, though, to block out the musk of the flooring.

Against the floor, she mumbled, "I could eat a thousand dinners right now."

"Me too," Sokka agreed, "Phew."

Katara let out a yelp, suddenly, and Sokka whirled, startled, only to see a rather unthreatening rat-mouse. He raised his eyebrow at her, and she forced herself to relax, with a very stiffly-said, "Er, I was caught off-guard, there."

"And your true colours show!" Sokka grinned. He pulled out his machete and started towards it, stomping his feet hard on the floor, and the rodent scuttled away rapidly. Sokka gave chase, and threw the machete.

It cut through the air and landed point-first in the floor. The rat-mouse stayed there for a moment, with a pained squeal, though it hadn't really been stuck there. He had pinned it by the tail, and then it scampered off, leaving its severed tail behind.

"Cool," he remarked, pulling out the machete by the handle. Katara made a disgusted face.

"Not only is she afraid of big birds, but she's terrified of rat-mice," he said, knowingly, to Toph. He picked up the tail between his fingers and wiggled it about, and he held it in Katara's face. She leant back with a disgusted cringe, and he pinched it. Blood oozed out the cut, squelching.

"Eww! I am not!" Katara shot back, flustered. In the lamplight, her face went bright red, and she turned back to Aang. "Grow up, Sokka."

"Eh," Sokka shrugged, and he tossed the tail over his shoulder. Momo lunged from Toph's apron and landed on it, picking it up in his tiny paws and cramming it in his mouth. Katara grimaced, and Momo scampered off.

"Let's just sleep," Katara said, exhausted. "I'm going to make sure Aang's comfortable, but you two go to bed."

"Yeah, I'm tired," Sokka replied. He glanced out the door, and watched Appa for a moment. The bison was flopped on his stomach in front of the hut, easily taller than it, and the great monster gave a sigh, chest heaving and eyes blinking slowly. "Appa," Sokka called, "move to the side, buddy, I want to be able to see if people are coming up the hill."

The sky bison groaned, and Sokka went to him. He gave Appa a few pets on the nose, and then a shove on the cheek. Appa groaned again, and reluctantly climbed to his feet to lumber to the side. He flopped down again beside the house, so hard that the walls shook.

"Thanks, buddy," Sokka said. He gave Appa another pet or two, and added, "Aang'll be alright. By tomorrow he'll be up and angsting about how the Earth Kingdom fell and he couldn't stop it. We can all groan about our failure together."

"Shut up and go to bed, Sokka," Katara said, hurt, from inside the hut. Sokka shrugged and gave Appa one last scratch behind the ear. Appa groaned again.

"Bed it is," he said.



_"Suki!" Sokka enthused, and she came at him at a run. He counted those twenty paces between them eagerly, and when Suki didn't stop running, he put his arms open for a hug._

_She ran into him like a train would run into a wall, and it was much like an unstoppable force hitting an unmovable object. Well, no, Sokka figured, not really, but the impact itself left him stepping backwards to soften the blow, and she latched onto his neck with a joyous laugh._

_"Sokka!" she said, against his neck, and Sokka grinned against her hair. Her body lined up with this perfectly: her breasts mashed against his chest, her stomach against his, her feet so close she was practically standing on his toes. His growth spurts had left him tall enough that she just barely had to rise on the balls of her feet to keep her arms around his neck._

_"How was the trip? Did you get over here with the other Kyoshi warriors safely? How are you?" he asked, firing off the questions as soon as she stepped back. She laced her fingers with his and held their hands between them._

_"It was fine, yes, and I'm fine," she said, and she smiled. "How are you? Things okay here in Ba Sing Se?"_

_When she was standing back, it occurred to him that she was dressed as Azula, but that didn't really strike him as weird. She looked gorgeous, and that was all that mattered, so he just said, "You're gorgeous, and everything's great."_

_She flushed in the face and pressed a kiss to his lips, and from there on, Sokka was on cloud ten, let alone cloud nine. Behind them, Katara, Toph, Aang, and Gran-Gran started cheering and clapping, and the rest of the Kyoshi warriors started a celebratory speech. Fireworks went off._

_"Now that you're here, the entire world will be saved, and together we can take down the Fire Nation once and for all!" Sokka announced, and Suki agreed._

_"Have sex with me, you stud," she said, and Sokka nodded very enthusiastically. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and made to drag him off to their room, but..._

That was when Sokka woke up, with Toph knelt next to him, her hands on his bare chest. She shouted at him to wake up and shook him, hard and he said, "Woah, WOAH."

"Wake up!" Toph demanded, and Sokka opened his eyes. At that same moment, he realized the room was obscenely bright, and that his hair was whipping around his face like they were in the middle of a cyclone.

They _were_ in the middle of a cyclone.

Sokka was sitting up in a flash, and he looked over in Aang's general direction, pretty sure he knew what was coming. He'd felt it numerous times before, and sure enough, Aang was glowing and shaking in the middle of the cyclone that was their new house, and Katara was leaning over him, seemingly trying to hold him to the ground. Her hair whipped around her.

"Aang!" she screamed, "Aang!"

Sokka climbed to his feet and Toph held onto the floor, cringing her shoulders almost up to her cheeks in fear. Sokka wavered in the strong wind, and he forced himself down by Katara, putting an arm around her.

"What's going on?" he shouted.

"I don't know, he just started going into the Avatar state!" she screamed, "Aang! Aang! Aang, stop! Wake up!"

Sokka held on for dear life, and Katara kept shouting. Sokka's shirt whipped around the room on the air currents, the door burst open with a bang, unable to keep the pressure inside. What was left of the glass in the windows shattered and flew outwards. Toph screamed.

"Stop him!" Toph shouted, "Katara, do something!"

Sokka looked up, his eyes rather blinded by Aang's light, and he caught sight of a second light outside, although it was much dimmer. He squinted to see what it was, though the dust whipping through the air stung his eyes, and he realized what it was.

It was Appa, his shaggy fur whipping in all directions, his head raised and his mouth lolled open. His eyes were so wide it seemed unreal, and they glowed white much like Aang's.

"Katara!" Sokka said, giving her a push on the shoulder, "Katara, Appa!"

She went on clinging to Aang in fear, and Sokka urged her again, and after a moment, she finally looked up, as the wind was spiking even faster. It ripped around the room with a chaotic force, and the doors on the cabinets blasted open. The potbellied stove quaked on its funnels. Katara turned to look at Appa, Sokka's arm tighter around her shoulders.

Her eyes widened, and she turned to Sokka in fear. They both looked back to Aang. There was a mysterious blue glow lingering on his skin, and to their horror, it began to rise, in the form of a person.

Aang's spirit was climbing out of his own body.

"Aang! Aang, please wake up!" Katara shrieked, "Aang!"

Sokka, then, was considering the very real possibility of losing Aang, the Avatar, and hope, and that was when Toph found the strength to let go of the floor and pound her fist against it. Earth shot up all around them, to brace them, and immediately, the wind felt cut and stifled. Sokka dragged Katara backwards just in time to avoid them being crushed by the stone that was jutting up from around Aang and wrapping around his body. The wind died immediately, and Katara pressed herself up against the stone barrier in panic.

She kept screaming his name as if he were dead, and the stone walls vibrated and hummed from the pressure inside. Toph was holding her hands in mid-air, stationary, as if she were holding it still without making any contact.

"What's going on?" Sokka said, throat sore, "What do we do?!"

"I don't know!" Katara said, obviously distressed. There was a large piece of hair across her face that she didn't bother brushing away, and now that the wind wasn't blasting her in the face, she was tearing up.

Sokka turned, rapidly, to look at Appa, who was tense and glowing. Sokka gave a hesitant look at Katara, and then let go of her to approach the beast.

"Appa's never reacted to Aang going into the Avatar state before!" he called, "Something's wrong. Is the Avatar dying?"

Katara looked at him rapidly and said, "Don't say that!"

"Not Aang," Sokka said, "the Avatar!"

"How does that make sense?!" she shouted, and Sokka reached towards Appa tentatively. Katara shouted, "Don't!"

But he already did. His hand brushed against Appa's nose and the beast's head shot up, ears flipping back and legs bracing. Sokka withdrew immediately, taken while on guard but surprised nonetheless.

"Sokka!" Katara shouted.

Sokka felt the stupidity of what he was doing quite suddenly, but the rumbling of the wind and stone stopped, and Appa slumped down. Sokka stood there, frozen, wondering vaguely what he had done, and why. Appa's body relaxed, seemingly in sleep, and his eyes closed. He seemed to flop, like he was boneless, and he lay beside the hut quite limp.

They all turned towards the stone cage Toph had erected around Aang and watched in concern. It didn't move, and Toph dropped it down into the floor.

Toph turned in his direction and Katara stared. For a moment, they reveled in the quietness, and then Sokka turned to Katara with a triumphant shout.

"YEAH! You can stop Avatars but I can stop Avatar Bisons! YEAH!"

But Katara wasn't listening. She was back at Aang's side, and she leant over him with a worried face. Her hand darted to his throat, to check for a pulse, her other hand laying overtop his heart. There was a moment of baited breath, between them all, and then she let out a long sigh.

"He's alive, just unconscious," she said. Sokka nodded, slowly.

"Alright," Sokka said. He turned back to Appa and said, "But what about Appa?"

Katara didn't seem to care nearly as much, but she asked, "What about him?"

Sokka pressed his hand to Appa's nose, and felt a long _whuff_ of sleeping breath against his palm, relaxed. Calling Appa's name, he gave the great beast a shove, and there was no reply. He tapped Appa on the nose again, and tried pulling back his eyelids. No reaction at all, Appa just kept on breathing slowly. Panic filled him for a split second, and then realization dawned on him.

He said, "Katara, Appa's unconscious too, just like Aang."

"What does that mean?" she asked, concerned.

"It means Appa is connected to Aang," Sokka said. "He told us about it once, didn't he? Every Avatar has an animal companion-thing... like Avatar Roku and his dragon. If Appa is the same, well, if Aang goes, Appa goes."

Katara didn't reply, but Toph did. She piped up, "Are you basing that off a lot of Avatars or just Roku? One Avatar having a pet doesn't mean anything."

"Got a better theory?" Sokka shot back.

"No," Toph said, "I guess our gang just has to take everything whacked out as possible, though. You never know."

Sokka shrugged, and Katara sighed, "Let's try to settle in again... maybe he'll be awake by morning."

They all figured this was perfectly possible, but when morning came and Sokka awoke to found Katara dozing against the wall, with Aang's head in her lap, he felt the hopelessness pile on.



Sokka reached down to pull on his boots, and all at once, the terror slipped across his mind, unexpected.

Suki.

_Suki._

He had felt the fear grip him when he had first realized the "Kyoshi Warriors" in Ba Sing Se were impostors, and in the frantic panic and fear over the next hours, it hadn't crossed his mind again.

The fear hit then, and it hit him hard. He let out a long, terrified breath and lifted his head, staring off into the distance, as if to check Suki was still around. He didn't see her, of course, and he said, panicked, "Oh no. Suki."

Katara lifted her own head like lightning as he said it, taking her attention away from Aang immediately. Her eyes locked with Sokka's as he turned to look at her, and for a moment, both siblings just stared at each other in horror, in silence.

Sokka burst to his feet and shouted, "Suki? Oh no. _No._ Where's Suki if the Crazy Wonder was in her uniform?!"

Katara processed this slowly, and she squeaked, "Oh no. Azula… Azula had her uniform and her crest and her make-up, and it just didn't click in my head, I mean, I didn't notice she wore her hair different, I thought she was Suki—"

"You mistook _Suki_ for _Azula_?!" Sokka said, so loudly that Toph cringed and covered her ears. "Azula, Katara, AZULA?! Are you blind?! Where is Suki?! Did that freak of nature say anything about Suki?!"

Defensively, Katara said, "Sokka, she and her girls stopped me in my tracks practically _two seconds_ later, I didn't really have a chance."

"What did she say?!" Sokka shouted.

"She didn't really say anything," Katara replied, "not… not much, anyway. The gymnast friend of hers paralyzed me and Azula told me a few things, but not much."

"So?! What did she say?!" he said, before she could explain. She sighed, concerned and aggravated.



_"Where's Suki?" the girl demanded, from the floor. Azula watched her with a tiny stab of pride at her team's skills. She'd seen Ty Lee paralyze people hundreds (if not thousands) of times, and the thrill of power never managed to bore her. The girl couldn't move, couldn't feel her limbs._

_Azula knew that feeling from experience; from one time Ty Lee got her in the arm by accident, at school. The sensation would disappear; everything would be numb, moreso than just a limb that had fallen asleep. It felt as if she didn't even have an arm at all._

_This girl, the Avatar's friend, probably felt like a head and a torso, dismembered from the rest of the body. _

_Azula stepped around the water pooling under the girl's body, careful not to wet her boots. The girl couldn't move her neck, so Azula moved to the side, so she could see well. It was only polite, after all._

_"Azula," the girl said, angrily, "where's Suki? What are you doing here?!"_

_To make an understatement, Azula wasn't terribly interested in discussing this sort of thing with the Avatar's friend. She was too involved with the resistance to be worth the time. But Azula loved a game of wits, and compared to her, this girl had none._

_A look of twisted amusement found its way to her face. Azula said, almost playfully, "I am Suki."_

_"Liar," the girl said, and she grit her teeth. "You won't get away with this."_

_"And you all fell for it," Ty Lee said, chirpily, and Azula smiled more. Yes. Everyone did fall for it. "And we will get away with it! No one interferes with us."_

_"Where are the real Kyoshi warriors?" the girl demanded._

_"Do you think I'd tell you?" Azula said, "Don't get me wrong, I truly believe you'll never have a chance to tell anyone before it's too late, but there's a fine line between taunting and telling. For all you know, though, they gave up the fight, gave us their uniforms, and went on their merry way. After all… you'll find some of the Earth kingdom is remarkably open to the idea of colonization."_

_"Suki would never bow to you," was the chosen comeback. Azula found it only mildly amusing. "She would never let you get away with any of this."_

_"Amazing how fast a bit of lightning loosens up the lips and tongue. I'm rather impressed so many of them held out for so long. But to reveal information under pressure… it's so deplorable."_

_"You're a witch," the girl hissed._

_"That's what they all say," Azula said, and she stifled a slight yawn. She gave a wave of her hand and she turned her head to the Dai Li on guard by the door. With a glance back at the scum marring what was now her floor, she said to the guard, "I bore of this nonsense. Is there a place we can stow the Avatar's little friend until he arrives?"_



After the initial shouting match and much storming about, the hut was relatively intact. There was a twelve-foot-high wall of solid ice all around the hut, at least a few feet thick, except for one part, which had been hacked at for a while by Sokka, as a last ditch bid to escape. Toph was rather irritated, especially after an attempt to referee that left Sokka with a temporarily broken foot and Katara bruised. The hut wasn't ruined, but there were still holes in the roof.

Sokka took the news like a man, after he was finished trying to take off for Ba Sing Se immediately, in his quest to find Azula and kick her Fire nation butt.

He sat on the porch, hunched over, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers, his eyes screwed tightly shut. Katara sat with him, holding his free hand, although she threw Aang's sleeping form concerned looks every few moments, in case he stirred. After an incredibly energized reaction, he had settled into some nasty low, and Katara sat with him.

"Are you alright?" Katara asked, for the nth time.

"That's a stupid question," Sokka grumbled, and Katara rolled her eyes skyward and gave his hand a squeeze, and he squeezed it back somewhat half-heartedly. She leant her head against his shoulder.

"I'm really sorry, Sokka," Katara said, solemnly.

"Don't act like she's dead," he snapped, "Azula got information from them by force, obviously, but it doesn't mean Suki's dead. Or that any of them are dead."

Katara didn't want to argue, because he was right.

But after her sparring match with Azula, ruthless, fearless, Azula, she wondered if she herself would have survived without Zuko's Uncle's help.



"So how's Dad?" Katara asked. She folded her knees up in front of her, hugging them to her chest. She leant her head on her knees, looking at him sideways. Sokka nodded, and a smile tugged at his lips.

"Yeah. They're all good. Alive and well, but the boats could be better. Most of the men are pretty tired, but more or less, they're holding out well. Man, it felt good to eat real food again," he said, and he glanced at her with a knowing grin to say, "I was starting to think I had imagined Water tribe food all those years, you know?

Katara didn't say anything. She just continued to watch her brother, and Sokka felt the pressure of the gaze oddly, as if she were expecting him to pass on a message to her or something. Sokka waited for her to say something.

She didn't.

"Anyway," Sokka said, to fill in the gaps, "Dad's good. Bato's caught up with them fine. They're all good. They miss us."

"Did Dad tell you anything to pass on to me?" Katara asked, when he didn't supply the answer. He'd been waiting for her to push that one on him. Sokka hesitated.

To be honest, they hadn't really talked about Katara. Sokka'd told his father and the men what their travels with the Avatar had been like, and he'd assured his father that Katara was fine, but there had been no special message. Maybe there would have been if he hadn't had to leave so suddenly, but Hakoda had said nothing about it.

And there was only so long Sokka could fend Katara off with conversation about the ingenious new way they found to patch the hulls of the boats, or talk about how non-Arctic waters were host to algae and things that needed to be scraped off the bottoms of the boats to keep up their maintenance. Katara also wouldn't care about stink bombs, explosives, or how the men were using bits of their own clothing to patch up the miserable holes in the sails.

"I'm sorry, Katara, I had to leave suddenly. He just told me to take care of you."

She let out a long breath, almost as if she were angry, and then she said, "I understand."

He watched her for a second, and then he said, "Hey, I'm sorry. Next time we see him, he'll probably have a lot to say to you."

But Sokka wondered, in a way, just how much there was to be said. It wasn't that his father didn't care about Katara as much as he cared about Sokka. In fact, Sokka sometimes figured it was the opposite, because Katara was his baby girl and his princess, while Sokka was his first-born son. Katara was his soft spot. Katara was the one who got off scot-free when she got Sokka in trouble.

The thing was, Hakoda just had more expectations for Sokka than he did for Katara. The Southern Water tribe was much like the North, like that, and the raising of boys to be men just came before girls to women.

Besides, Sokka justified. He was _there_ in Chameleon Bay, and he had been there to talk with their dad. He was sure that, had Katara been there in his place, the situation would be reversed.

Katara sighed, and Sokka felt guilty.

"Does he know I'm a master waterbender?" Katara asked, hopefully.

Sokka lifted an eyebrow and he said, "Obviously. He saw your freakiness before he left, didn't he?"

Katara used this opportunity to splash him with her bending, and before he could protest, she pulled it all out of his clothes and hair and back into her pouch. But she smiled, when she did it, and she said, "No, dummy, does he know I've _mastered_ waterbending?"

"I told him," Sokka said. This was a bit of a lie: he had just said Katara was good at it, and how she was rudely challenging the traditions of their society, for which Hakoda had knocked him over the head and told him to be nice about his sister, even if he had been joking (at least, he hadn't meant the mock-scandalized tone).

Katara seemed excited. She said, "Was he happy? Did you tell him about how I almost beat Master Pakku? And about Zuko? And about Azula?"

"First of all," Sokka said, rationally, "I don't think it's a compliment to say you beat the banished loser Prince of the Fire nation, even if you did it more than once. And two, I don't have the gift, Azula didn't happen until _after_, so no, I didn't. But I did mention Pakku."

In passing, anyway.

"What did he say?" Katara egged him on. She stepped over her error neatly, as if it had never happened.

Sokka thought Katara could use a lesson or two in being humble. She was, after all, asking him if he had bragged to their father about her tradition-breaking, gender-boundary-clashing rebellion against elder members of their sister tribe.

"He's happy you're a waterbender," Sokka said, with a smile. Katara smiled, but she continued to ask questions about how their father had reacted to the story of their lives while he was gone. Sokka fended her off with a "Woah, woah. You were with me when we traveled the world, I don't think you need to hear a step by step recap of that."

"You're right," she relented, "sorry."

There was long pause, and then she asked, "When do you think we'll see him again?"

Sokka shrugged, "They're still defending Chameleon Bay. If they survive the battle, I guess we'll catch up with them there, as soon as Aang and Appa are ready to go. Hopefully that's not too far from now. It'll take at least two weeks to fly to the Fire nation, let alone detouring to find them again, if they've moved on from Chameleon Bay."

Katara nodded, but bringing up Aang again seemed to sober her up a bit. Her smile vanished, and she unfolded her legs, uncomfortably.

There was a moment of odd silence.

"Dad's content with how things are going, though," Sokka said, finally, "And I'm a man now. I know I've been one since Bato gave me the trial, but, well… hearing Dad say it just makes it a lot better."

"Congratulations, Sokka," Katara said, and Sokka thanked her. Katara paused, and then she asked, "What did Dad say when you told him we had been at the Northern Water tribe?"

Sokka's mouth opened to reply, but he was hit with a sudden loss for words. Katara leaned forward to see his face, around his shoulder, and Sokka quickly said, "He had never been there, so he asked lots of things about it and how it worked. Asked if they were a lot different than the Southern Water tribe."

Katara let out a scoffing noise, and she said, "Different is right. Women not allowed to bend. Ugh."

Sokka was glad her mind went to that first, because he didn't exactly want to share the conversation.



_Hakoda hadn't exactly expected his offer for the three of them – his two children and himself – to go to the North Pole together, someday, to be rejected, let alone rejected so quickly._

_"I don't ever want to go back there, Dad."_

_Hakoda glanced at his son, rather surprised._

_"Why not, Sokka?"_

_He'd never seen his son make the face that appeared then, even if it only lingered for a second, before being replaced with one steeled and forced. Two years had deprived him of many, many of Sokka's moments growing up, and this face was probably one of them. It was pained, apprehensive, maybe even nervous in that boyish, guilty way. Like he'd done wrong._

_Sokka said, too casual to be honest, "There's nothing special there, anymore. I just don't want to go back, it's a waste of time, not much to see, you know..."_

_Hakoda didn't buy this for a second. He let the silence sit for a moment, to ripen, and Sokka didn't meet his gaze. When there was no further excuse offered, he asked, "What happened, Sokka?"_

_His son stopped trying to act so casual about it. All at once, the rigidness from his posture disappeared, and his mouth twisted down. He didn't say anything for a moment, and then he looked up at Hakoda._

_"I couldn't protect someone."_

_Ah. That brought up memories in his own old head, familiar and many years old. Hakoda recalled the finer moments of his time with his late wife and love, and he didn't regret a single one of them. Losing her had been his own failure to protect. Going to war had been his attempt at not repeating the same, his attempt to protect his children, and to protect himself from losing his children. He was protecting his children, his people, and the world from the western threat of Fire._

_And just as he had taken his love under his arm, to protect her from harm and hurt, perhaps Sokka had followed in his footsteps and done the same. And just his father, Sokka had failed._

_Going by the look on Sokka's face, perhaps he was dead on. He saw a bit of himself in that look, as it was the exact same as his own had been, whenever something reminded him of her. Hakoda had worn that look at least once every day, for the rest of his life._

_But he hoped he was wrong, for Sokka's sake._

_Hakoda put a hand on Sokka's shoulder, and Sokka paused, long and hard. While Hakoda waited, Sokka seemed to gather himself together, and Hakoda wondered if this was the first time he was telling someone about it. Sokka didn't seem to be able to explain, so he said something else._

_"I think I understand how it was for you when mom died."_

_And then his worst suspicions were confirmed. Hakoda let his hand drop from Sokka's shoulder, slowly, and he instead pulled his son into a hug. Sokka didn't really lend himself to the gesture, remaining almost frozen still for a moment, and then he tucked down his chin._

_"Sokka," Hakoda said, gravely._

_Sokka gently eased himself from his father's grip, and Hakoda let him go. When Sokka lifted his head again, his face was guilty once more. The regret was overwhelming, and Hakoda said, "Are you alright?"_

_"It wasn't going to be forever anyway," Sokka replied, awkwardly. His voice, matured and still unfamiliar to Hakoda's ears, cracked a bit, and Sokka said, "It's a long story."_

_Hakoda nodded, and he said, "We have ample time before the raid. We'll take a walk around camp."_

_So they did._



The three of them, plus their animal companions and the lifeless Avatar, settled into a humble mode of life. The village was about an hour's walk from their humble little hut, where they were very sheltered from the passersby on the main road, where no one could stumble across them.

Even if someone did manage to stumble across them, Toph had equipped them with a good defense. While they originally thought of erecting a large stone fence enclosing the area, Sokka shot the idea down rather quickly. If people saw a fence, it could only be assumed that there was something hidden behind it, and that would only tempt people into trying to scale it, if they couldn't just bend it down themselves. He scaled what Toph did erect, and successfully getting over it was a feat that he proved, much to Toph's chagrin. So they opted for a different method of protection: if someone came to close, Toph would close the entire place under a sheet of rocks.

"What if the intruder is an earthbender?" Katara had asked.

"We're in the Earth kingdom," Sokka said, annoyed, "last I checked, they weren't the enemy, and firebenders can't bend earth."

"Do you want a defense or not?" Toph replied. Katara let it be.

But having a good defense wasn't the biggest part of the problem—food was. Protection meant nothing if they were going to starve to death. At first, none of them had believed it would be a problem, but after a few failed hunting trips, their spirits changed. Sokka had discovered that game was incredibly scarce, and while there was the odd bit of meat running around the area, he literally had to track them for hours before he could catch them, as the area was heavily forested and boomerangs depended on having open space, so he relied on his clubs alone. And fishing wasn't much better; while he had brought his fishing rod along with him when he had gone to see his father, it was pretty useless when there were few fish worth eating.

After the third time he returned with only a small rabbit or a couple fish barely the size of his palm, Katara suggested they go down to the village and see what they could buy.

"Er, with what money?" Sokka said. "Do I have to get another job?"

He wasn't really keen on being bossed around by people again, despite how pleased he was to be credited as breadwinner. Sokka could only degrade himself for so long, before he got tired of it. Katara, on the other hand, thrived on helping people for no reward other than a pat on the head.

"I've got a bit," Katara said, turning out her pockets. "Enough to at least get us a bag of rice and some vegetables."

"Why waste our time with veggies if Aang's not here to eat 'em?" Sokka said, mildly bugged. Katara frowned, and looked away, folding her arms.

"Some of us are happy being omnivores, thanks," Katara said, "Besides. If Aang wakes up, he's going to want to eat something other than your finger-fish or Fluffy the Second."

Somehow, Sokka didn't think Aang was going to be roused by the smell of mushrooms, but the jab to his hunting skills was enough to stop another "will he wake up?" discussion from ensuing. Toph was glad.

And, every few days, Katara (but on occasion, Sokka) would trek down to the village, where she'd bargain, trade, or purchase food. A few of the old things found in the backs of the cupboards—clothing, small crafts and knickknacks—were traded for goods, and as the first week ambled into history, they managed to establish their survival. Food was still rationed, of course, but at least they were making do.

Every night, sometime in the small hours of the morning, Aang would glow. The wind torrents never came back, much to their relief, but the tattoos on his skin would shine bright, though he'd never wake up. Katara would get out of bed and sit by Aang anyway, hoping that that night was going to be the one where he sprung up and urged them all to head out for the Fire nation, where they could end the war and be done with it.

But he didn't wake up.

"Why does he glow?" Katara mused, to herself, more than anything,

Toph said, "He's technically not eating or drinking anything all this time, so shouldn't he be wasting away, or actually dead? Maybe it's the Avatar state kicking in to keep him alive."

"He's never allowed to complain about me sleeping in ever again," Sokka grumbled.

Katara seemed to thrive on Aang's continued existence. No matter how humble their lives had become in a matter of a week, she didn't seem all that upset over it, as long as she could lean over Aang's body for long hours and try to heal him. Slowly, the marks on his back began to fade to mere electrical burns, and Katara didn't think he'd ever be free of those. But still, Aang didn't wake up, even after two weeks.

"Get some sleep," Sokka grumbled one night, when he woke up to find Katara sitting with Aang drawn across her lap. Aang was glowing, as usual, and Katara was watching him intently, as if this were the time he'd wake up.

"I will when he goes out of the Avatar state, if he isn't awake."

"He's not going to," Sokka warned her, "stop getting your hopes up."

Katara scowled and kept her attention focused on Aang. Her hand ran over the back of his head, tenderly, over his prickly scalp. His dark hair was growing in. She said, bitterly, "You act like you don't want him to wake up."

Sokka was insulted by this accusation, and he threw her a disgusted look that she didn't see, and then rolled over, yanking the corner of his sleeping bag over his head. He grumbled, "Well, excuse me for wanting to get a little shut eye."

"You're so selfish," Katara said, not quite ready to let the battle end. Sokka just growled at her, through his pillow.

"Face it, Katara, it's been two weeks. Him waking up in ten years is just the same probability of him waking up in ten minutes. Go to bed." He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, dragging the covers down to stop right under his eyes, and he said, "Unless, of course, I'm wrong, which seems to happen a lot, surprisingly."

Katara glowered at him, and she said, "Just because I have hope doesn't mean you have to rain on it, you know."

"I could be doing a thousand different things right now," Sokka growled. "I could be finding Suki, or stopping the Fire nation, or fighting with dad, rather than sleeping in this stupid hut, with my stupid sister, in this stupid forest, with all the stupid foresty animals, in the stupidest world in the world.

"That doesn't even make sense," Katara accused, "You're the stupid one!"

And that was precisely when a new wall, made of solid earth, was created in the place, dividing Toph from the two bickering siblings. Through the wall, she snapped, "Oh, can it, both of you, by the noise level, you could think it was the apocalypse."

Wisely, the both "canned it."



"I'm sure we'll be safe here for the time being," Katara said. She didn't sound too sure of herself.

Sokka itched to leave anyway. It was if he was having trouble sitting in one place, especially with Ba Sing Se so close and yet so far away. They were a four days' walk to the Serpent's Pass, and Sokka seemed sure they'd be able to make it there and run into the Kyoshi Warriors without wasting time.

"You know better than that," Katara would protest, to those sorts of offers. When Sokka would start to get dramatic about the whole problem, Katara would say things like, "I'm worried, too, Sokka, I really am" and "They could be anywhere, absolutely anywhere. They could be dead, they could be captured, they could be heading back to Kyoshi Island, they could be fine."

This didn't soothe Sokka's anxiety any. Instead, it just seemed to drive him up the wall even more. Sokka paced. He paced and he paced. When he wasn't sleeping or eating, he was pacing, and even then, sometimes he'd get up during whatever dinner they had scrounged together just to walk back and forth, munching as he went. The monotone vibrations through the floor drove Toph nuts, and she would do her best to look annoyed and express her anger, as a warning, before she slammed her foot against the floor and took his feet out from under him.

But that didn't really deter him. It just prompted him to take it elsewhere. He'd offer excuses to leave the place. Each time he left, Katara would worry he was taking off on a serious intent to find Suki, but he never left with his sleeping bag or pack. He'd bring his fishing rod and tackle box and come home with fresh fish. He's bring his machete and boomerang, and he'd be back in a few hours, sometimes even a dozen hours, with fresh meat and a whole load of grass stains. Then, Katara would breathe a sigh of relief that he hadn't left them, but only until he did it again.

She thought that, maybe, his anxiety was getting the better of him. She would catch him staring off over the hill, into the trees, as if he were waiting for someone to show up. She would find him taking trips down to the village, in haphazard disguises, saying he was going to catch up with news about the war. On some nights, when she'd wake up to check on Aang, she would see his empty sleeping bag and find him on the roof, staring at the sky.

And that was fine, in some way. They all needed a safe house, and she knew Sokka liked to keep watch for coming enemies, like he always did back home. She hadn't seen the backwards glances he used to give to the seashore, searching for coming boats, in a long time, but they were back. They all depended on news from the Earth kingdom and the Fire nation, as such news could affect how close they were to being found. And they all needed their time apart, too. Toph would build herself her own room, and Katara would go for walks to the village, too, but Sokka seemed downright antisocial with concern.

It was like they were back at the North Pole, and they only ever saw Sokka at meal times, and even then he barely talked to them, because he was too busy in his personal la-la-land. But it was different all the same –– the blissful, dreamy look on his face was replaced with one concerned, the eyebrows knitted together and the mouth twisted down.

After a week of the business, Katara got concerned.

"Toph, do you think Sokka's alright?" she asked. Sokka had been gone for exactly four minutes, tackle box in one hand, fishing rod slung over the other shoulder.

"He's fine," Toph replied.

Katara frowned and she replied, "He's obviously worried about Suki, and the invasion, and everything. He's hardly been himself for the past weeks, Toph."

"He woke me up this morning because he was horsing around with Momo," Toph said, skeptically, "and yesterday, while you were out getting water, he told me about how, when you were little, he convinced you that if you hold too many sneezes in, you'll explode. And he laughed the whole time."

So that was what they had been laughing about. Katara flushed, slightly, because Sokka had likely told her the bit about how Katara had caught a cold that same day, and had burst out in tears every time she had to sneeze but didn't. Judging by how Toph gave a weird smile, Katara figured he had, and vowed extract revenge.

"Well, okay," Katara replied, "he's had his moments. But he's not exactly himself. Has he talked to you about that?"

Toph sighed. "It's not like we have some secret-sharing bond, don't ask me, I just read him through the floor and hear about how you didn't eat some sort of fish for yeaaars because he convinced you that it'd make your hair frizzy."

"I beat him up for that," Katara said, firmly, "I gave him a black eye."

"He didn't tell me that bit," Toph said.

"He also tried to drink up his nose, once, because I told him that if you could breathe with your nose AND mouth, why couldn't you do the same with drinks and food," Katara said, quickly, trying to even out the score a bit. "And that if he jumped off something really, really, high, like a glacier, he could fly."

Toph shrugged, and replied, "I thought that too. I think every kid but you believed that."

Katara was a bit disappointed.

"Oh."

Still, it lightened her mood a bit.



News from Ba Sing Se came sporadically. Occasionally, on the trips to town, they'd pick up the current events from a stranger. There were many strangers, and many passers-through, drifting through the village and onwards, determined to get as far away from Ba Sing Se as they possibly could. The kids themselves never lingered in town for too long, either, as they were technically banished and someone was bound to place their faces sooner or later, but with so many changing faces, they weren't recognized. They managed to piece together the whole story of what had happened to Ba Sing Se rather quickly.

Ba Sing Se had been, in short, burned to the ground, which explained the mass exodus of displaced families.

"Why would they burn it down?" Katara said, "If they're planning on cultivating the Earth kingdom and actually using it, why would they get rid of it?"

"Because Ba Sing Se is as large as the Fire nation," Sokka replied, soberly. Katara didn't seem to understand, and Sokka said, "Okay, so, they don't want to keep the city. Guess why they trashed it."

"To shame the Earth kingdom," Katara replied.

"Yeah, but also because it's the most concentrated population of Earth kingdom people. If they start burning the lands and destroying it, all those people are going to die," Sokka said. "It's pretty bad, the Fire nation has used Ba Sing Se's walls against all the people in it. You don't even want to know. Those that managed to escape are leaving as fast as they can."

"Where are they going to go?" Katara said, concerned.

"If they can get out, wherever they can," Sokka replied.

Katara paused, and then she said, almost scared to confirm it, "The Fire nation has walled them in AND they're burning the city down. All those people are stuck in there, in a burning city, unable to escape."

Sokka nodded, and looked away. Katara grit her teeth, her eyes welling with tears, obviously trying her best not to make a scene. Sokka said, "It's a fact of war." He pulled her into a hug anyway.

The shopkeeper let out a long, dwindling sigh, and then looked down at his hands, scrubbing them clean of dirt. Sokka exchanged an odd look with the man, but the man didn't seem capable of keeping eye contact with him. Apologetically, the man said, "I've seen too many tear-streaked faces, in the past three weeks, to look upon another. I'm sorry."

"We should help them," Katara said, steeled. She pulled herself from Sokka's arms, and she said, again, "We have to go help them."

"Help them with what?" Sokka asked, "Katara, it's over."

"It's only a matter of time before the Fire nation joins us, too," the shopkeeper said, "I'm too old to move, I'd rather die in my village, but… everyone with a hope left in the world is leaving. The Avatar's dead, as is our hope. Many are heading to the North Pole—it's the last free place in the world, and the new Avatar will be there."

Sokka let out a long sigh, and he let his hand slip from Katara's shoulder. He looked at her, and she looked away, the shame of silence so apparent on her features. Neither said a word.



"Is there something you aren't telling me?" Katara finally asked, when Sokka returned from yet another failed fishing trip.

He shrugged and replied, "About what?" in a tone that was suspiciously forced into sounding casual. He crouched down on the floor in front of Momo, who had come over to greet him, and he scratched the lemur behind the ears for a moment, with a smile. Katara watched him for a moment.

"You just seem really down lately," she said, and when he looked up, his grin faded. She said, "I know you're upset about Suki and everything. But is something else bothering you, too? I realized yesterday that you never talked to me about Princess Yue after we left, and I know you didn't want to talk about it, but..."

She wasn't sure where she was going with that. Sokka raised an eyebrow at her, and then sighed.

"Sorry," Katara said, "I know Princess Yue and you were close, but you never talked about it, just that you were spending time together. Aang thought that you two were just friends, and I sort of agreed, but..."

Sokka was staring at her, some strange mix between horrified and feigned calmness, which meant his mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide, but his eyebrows were drawn down. Katara held up her hands in front of her, in surrender, and she said, again, pointlessly, "Sorry. You don't want to talk about it."

He looked away, pressing one palm to his forehead. He didn't turn back to face her, and he busied his hands with playing with Momo, but he said, "I don't know. I miss her a lot, and knowing Suki might be, well, gone, too... well, it's kind of embarrassing, and kind of hard, to talk about with your _sister_. No offense or anything."

"So Aang was wrong?" Katara said, hesitantly.

"We called ourselves just friends but we're liars," Sokka said. He cringed out of the embarrassment, and Katara pursed her lips to keep back a sad smile. He covered his eyes with one hand again, but wasn't able to hide the flush to his cheeks. He said, "Er, yeah. Awkward, I know."

"You could have told me," Katara said. She leant over to hug him, leaning her cheek against the top of his head. He waited for her to move back a bit, and then he shook his head. "Or Aang, if you're too chicken to talk to _girls_ about _love_."

"Yeah, no," he said, voice funny, but she knew he wasn't crying. She didn't want to think about what he had been doing on his little solitary moments, over the past months. Sokka continued, "And Aang... just a kid, it's not like he'd have understood _love_ and that."

"He doesn't need to understand, just to listen," Katara replied. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Aang knows what love is. And don't talk about him like he's dead."

Sokka shrugged, and Katara released him from her hug when he moved to stand up. He pulled her into a brief hug, and then finally made eye contact again. His eyes were a bit glassy. Katara smiled at him, reassuringly.

"But even if it's weird, we can talk," she said, holding his hands. "Okay? It's not like I'm going to laugh at you. I just get worried when you talk about going out to find Suki and then go off to do something. And I get worried when I find you on the roof at night. That's kind of weird."

"The moon," Sokka said, dismissive, and it clicked in Katara's mind. "I'm not going to take off on you, I can't. You guys depend on me."

"Sokka," Katara said, hesitantly, "I know Suki matters to you. And I know I told you that we couldn't risk the time, and that it was unlikely we'd find her, but if you want to go, you should go. Maybe you're right about Aang. It's like sitting on the edge of a market street, and never crossing it, because the moment you step out, a cart could come around the corner and run you down. If you keep wasting time waiting for Aang to wake up, he'll wake up when you finally get the courage to walk."

Sokka stared at her, blankly. For a moment, he seemed to wait just like she had described, waiting in case she said something more, and then he finally said, "But what if he does wake up? You can't wait for me, either."

Katara couldn't say. She just drew her mouth into a line, unsure of what to say, and her eyes zoned out, eye-level with his neck. Then, she decided, "It depends on how strong he is. If he's strong, and can travel, we'll follow the path between here and the Serpent's path. If we don't see you... we'll keep going towards the Fire nation, I guess."

He seemed to take this path with some sort of finality, and he nodded. "I'm going to head out, then, Katara." He nodded again, despite the fact that he didn't need to, and he let go of her hands. "Suki might need me. I could never forgive myself if she went Princess Yue's way."

"Sokka," Katara said, miserably, and she put her arms around him and hugged him tightly, "please come back."

"Of course," Sokka replied, "what kind of lousy brother would I be if I didn't? I'm going to get you some food, and then I'll go. Fast as I can."

"Alright," Katara consented. "Alright."

She still didn't release him from the hug for another minute, chin digging into his shoulder, thinking that she didn't want Sokka to go off over the horizon line, just like dad. But she knew that if she didn't let him go, eventually, he'd break free himself.

But she knew he'd come back. Sokka always came back, just like that boomerang.



The forest was deep and lush.

It was sweltering hot when Sokka realized it had been the middle of spring when he had passed through the first time. Now, it was nearing the middle of the summer, and sometime, in all that time, while he had been lazing about Ba Sing Se, or goofing off, or doing miscellaneous boring things, Suki had been somewhere out here, struggling under the weight of Azula's tyranny.

He didn't know what to think about that, except it infuriated him. He held it in, for one moment, and then he let it go, giving out a cry of anger and kicking a stick, and it rolled over in a rather disappointingly unexciting way. So he kicked a rock, and that flew wildly, and Sokka watched it land in the bushes, and then he said, aloud, to no one in particular, "I'm an idiot."

No one replied. There was no one around to hear. It was just Sokka's ego, Sokka's guilt, and a bunch of memories, all rolled into one egotistical, guilty, and sentimental teenage body. One drenched in sweat and exhausted, just to put the icing on the cake. And he was all alone, just like that.

"I'm such an idiot," he repeated, sitting down and slouching his shoulders. He felt the weight like a sack of rocks over his shoulders. Sokka turned his face skyward, and he found the moon, or what was left of the moon, in the bright sunlight. All he could see was a sliver of white, only visible for how pale it was against the sky, between the trees. He strained his eyes to watch it closely.

The moon didn't seem to have an opinion on his idiocy, because nothing happened. Not that he expected anything to happen –– time and time again, he had hoped that just straining his eyes to see the moon, desperately, would be enough to make Princess Yue come to him in a vision, but it was never enough.

His eyes just couldn't see spirits, lost loved ones, or not.

"What do I do?" he said to himself. He had been remarkably hopeful about this. He had figured it would be easy enough to just walk along the road from Ba Sing Se to the Serpent's pass, that he would find Suki just like that. As if it were easy, and not a feat accomplished only by sheer luck and knowledge, both of which seemed to be lacking horribly.

"What do I do?" he repeated.

He closed his eyes, and opened them again, as he stood up. And then he pressed his palms to his temples, and let out an agitated breath. When he closed his eyes and then opened them again, his eyes fell on a tree burnt black.

Sokka paused, and he dropped his hands, almost in surprise. It didn't look natural at all. So he approached, almost eagerly, and he traced his fingers against it. The bark didn't break off, and it was obviously an old and rather superficial mark. There were grooves cut in an odd shape, where knives or something had punctured the bark. Sokka traced from one groove to another. Along two straight lines, then a break where something wide had been, and more rows going down either side of that. Realizing what it was, Sokka swallowed the dry lump that had formed in his throat.

A human had been hung here.

He moved away from the tree immediately, almost with some sort of crazed anticipation. He let out a loud breath of surprise, and he scanned the place for more clues. Fire. Fire meant firebenders. Knife grooves –– hadn't that knife chick with Azula pinned Katara to a tree with the same technique? The path to Ba Sing Se, if the Kyoshi warriors really had passed this way, then they were in the right place...

Everything was falling into place as soon as he got the ball rolling.

The lump in his throat was growing more and more painful to swallow. He felt suffocated by it, and Sokka looked between the tree and the rest of the clearing carefully. He found another clue so easily... a gigantic log strewn across part of the clearing, burnt a while ago, too. It was far less superficial, and when Sokka kicked it, large pieces crumbled off into mere black dust. It both excited and terrified him, but the pieces of this sick puzzle were falling into place much faster than that.

His eyes had found a glimmer of gold in the long grass.

Sokka fell upon that gold like a tiger-seal would fall upon its prey. He snatched it up and drew it up to his face, and he didn't care that it was damaged. The fact that he had found a golden fan was enough to thrill him enough.

When he twisted his wrist to flick the fan open, he read the characters eagerly. There it was. Her name, engraved into the blades, filled with chipped black paint.

"She was here," he said to himself, loudly, "Suki. Suki was here."

He stared at the fan. A Kyoshi warrior would never go down without a fight.

Sokka knew that, had he come here a month before, he might have found more clues than this. Rain, wind, and other weather had passed through for many days and nights, and if there were even any bloodstains to begin with, they were washed away now.

There were no bits of clothing. There was a headband belonging to one of the more inexperienced warriors under one tree, and Sokka easily found more scorch marks on trees. Using all the details, he managed to figure out what Azula had been doing, at any rate, and Sokka could guess that Azula would fight the best of the bunch, namely, Suki, especially if she had taken Suki's robes.

A mark there meant Azula had fired that way, and that Suki had dodged. He could track Azula from one end of the field to the other, because very few trees were marked, but figuring out what everyone else was doing was much harder. Between six warriors and three Fire nationers, it was pretty difficult to find out who had been where, in such a small clearing.

Sokka was just following the marks over to the huge, burnt log, when he looked down into the dirt and saw a very familiar footprint, with three toes. He lifted his eyebrows.

"Appa…" he mumbled, and then let out a loud whoop of surprise, "Appa! Appa was here with them?! Alright! I'll ask him what happened!"

And then, besides the fact that Appa was asleep, Sokka recalled that Appa was a bison, and couldn't talk. That was a bit disheartening, but the fact that answers were somewhere heartened him nonetheless.

But eventually, there was little other to look at. Sokka held Suki's fan between his fingers, and then pressed the flat of it against his chest, right over his heart. He held it there, for a moment, and then he pulled it back to look at it.

The first character of her name was written with the strokes for rebirth, for being alive again. The second was written as hope.

He knew she was alive, and with that in mind, he reluctantly left for home.

Sokka made the long trek home with a strange sort of feeling in his chest. Every step he made had him thinking about Suki being on the same road, somewhere around the next bend, but every corner he turned, he saw nothing but weary travelers heading to opposite direction. He was the only one walking towards the great fallen city—a couple with children told him they had never seen anyone walking in his direction, in all their days of travel.

It was easy to conclude that everyone was getting far, far away from Ba Sing Se, and part of him considered that if Suki was free, she was likely going his way, and that she was shepherding people out of the city. That was a Suki thing to do. That was a Kyoshi warrior thing to do.

They placed their lives in jeopardy to save others all the time, and he was proud of that. Which was why, when Sokka reached the path and had the option of going to Ba Sing Se instead of back to Katara and Toph, he had to hesitate.

Shouldn't he be doing the same?

He adjusted his grip on his pack and headed towards his family. He didn't have much of an option, but with Suki's fan between his skin and the breast of his shirt, he had a lot of faith in his girlfriend, his best friend, his Suki, whatever she was.

He knew she was alive, and he'd find her as soon as he could. Next time he returned home, he vowed she would be with him.



Sokka's return happened with little fanfare. Katara was already asleep when he came up to the door, but Toph was there waiting for him, surprisingly. She sat on the porch, calmly, with her bare feet planted firmly on the ground. Sokka wasn't sure if she had been waiting for a while, but she certainly knew he was coming. He had heard her call out his name before he was even within sight of the place.

"Hey, Toph," he replied, with a weary smile. He hadn't slept much, admittedly.

She seemed almost cheery as she replied, "How was the trip?"

He wanted to say, _'It was a stunning failure, obviously, can't you tell simply by the fact that Suki isn't here with me?'_ but he bit it back. Standing there on that ridge, with Toph so boldly asking the obvious, it just seemed to remind him that he hadn't found Suki, nor many answers. So there was a struggle. He _knew_ that. So there were weapons. He _knew_ that. Suki wasn't waiting in that clearing for months, he _knew_ that.

But he still didn't know where Suki was, if she was anywhere. What he didn't know pointed out his biggest failure, even if the margin of success had been pretty lousy to begin with.

"Well, I found where Suki and the rest of them encountered Azula," Sokka said. He hated how he was too tired to really put enough energy in what he said. "I'm not sure what I think."

"Is she alive?" Toph asked.

"I'm pretty sure," Sokka said, but that was a lie. The negativity in him surged. All the hope from the long road home seemed to vanish as soon as he was confronted about it. Truth be told, he didn't know. He couldn't possibly know.

Toph didn't say anything. Sokka figured it was pretty hard to reply to that with anything that wasn't predictably reassuring.

"She wouldn't die like that," Sokka said, "I know that for sure. Suki'd die fighting or never die at all... no way Azula won."

He was pretty glad that Toph didn't point out the fact that yes, they had been fighting, and yes, it was possible she had died then. He wasn't even sure if he was putting his sentences together properly.

"Katara missed you a lot," Toph announced.

Sokka smiled, and he sat down on the porch next to her. He said, mustering up the voice to tease her, "What, and you didn't?"

"No," Toph said, stubbornly, "why would I need you around? We take care of ourselves just fine, it's not like he were helpless without you. Though things were pretty boring, I admit."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Sokka said. "But don't worry, Toph. I know you missed me most of all, right? I bet you just _pined_ for me."

Toph turned her head away, which was a rather definitive thing for her to do, and she said, "I did _not_."

"Sure you did," he said, and he leant over her, just to be annoying. "I bet you cried yourself to sleep without me! You just felt so helpless, huh?"

"I did _not_," she repeated, this time with a jab in the ribs. It didn't take much to hit him hard enough to get him to back off –– he doubled over, clutching his ribs with a groan, and she said, firmly, "Not everyone thinks you're the greatest thing since instant noodles. Make an effort to make _yourself_ great before you go on whining about it."

"They don't?" Sokka quipped, "I'm shocked. But thanks for the warm welcome, I really appreciate it."

Toph said, "No problem, Sokka."

He smiled at her, even if she couldn't see it. He could always depend on Toph to hit him until he stopped feeling sorry for himself.



Sokka hadn't been back to the inn since – he'd mostly hung around the marketplace, keeping an eye out for anyone that might turn him away or recognize him as that guy in the tavern, the one accused of being Fire nation. And that was all right by him. There wasn't much there for him but drink, and as curious as he was, they couldn't exactly afford it, and food came over curiosity.

"People've finally stopped coming through here," the shopkeep said to him, softly, sadly, as he handed over the sack of raw rice. Sokka took it and weighed it in his hands, and then slung it over his shoulder. "No one wants in Ba Sing Se anymore, except those looking for lost loved ones… not much to find but ashes."

Sokka'd heard that a thousand times, and he was starting to get desensitized about it. There were only so many times he could think about it and get upset, though his anger hadn't faded. As long as the Fire nation existed, he'd be angry still.

"And the Fire nation occupation hasn't left yet?" Sokka asked, lowering his voice.

"Nay, not until they've sucked us of all our resources. People fear the army stopping here for sustenance. They can dry up a large town in a fortnight."

"Huh," Sokka breathed, and nodded. "I don't doubt it. Anything I can do to help?"

The shopkeep gave a laugh. It wasn't hearty or warming, but nor was it scornful. It, too, was a bit sad. "No, man, no one person will make the difference here. We're all cripples in our own nation, now, flogged by our new masters. There isn't much hope anymore, with the Avatar dead."

"Don't worry," Sokka said, "the Avatar will come again. Up North. I've been there… they've got lots of women and men, any minute now, some kid will be born, and then things will get sorted out."

The man laughed again, and he said, "Is that so? I hope we can survive the sixteen-year wait for him or her to come of age, no?"

"Hey, Aang was only twelve, and he knew," Sokka said. He was surprised by his own optimism. "But yeah, if there's anything I can do, let me know. I'm a warrior. Any Fire nation bullies can answer to me."

"Thank you," the man said. "You kids… yesterday, I had a young girl offer the same, real eager to help us. She didn't look well, so I turned her down, but she insisted. You kids are the things keeping the Earth kingdom alive, you know."

"That was probably my sister," Sokka said, "She never lets someone in need go alone, trust me, it's led to some pretty aggravating detours on our travels." He paused, concerned about the not-well comment. Katara seemed fine to him, physically, at least. He asked, "She's fine, though. We're all just a bit troubled, now, I guess. A bunch of our friends are missing."

"Your sister? She didn't look a bit like you," the man said, surprised.

Sokka paused, rather surprised himself, as it was usually painfully obvious the two of them were related. Same eyes, same skin, same hair colour. Katara carried herself much like he did, too, not to mention the Water tribe colours.

And then it occurred to him that Katara hadn't gone to the village yesterday. He had. Katara hadn't been the one to make a trip to the village the entire week. Sokka's eyebrows lifted, and his eyes widened.

"Never heard that before," Sokka admitted, pretty sure of himself. "Maybe you met someone else. Come to think of it, Katara didn't even go to the market yesterday."

"Tall, lots of make-up, warrior costume," the man said, "Pretty girl, but on the sickly side."

Sokka froze for a moment, staring. Warriors girls with make-up. Sokka dropped his bag of rice onto the counter again so he could give a wave of his arms, and he let out a gasp of joy.

He said, very enthusiastic, "Wait. Warrior girl? Green robes, gold headpiece, red and white make-up, armor, fans? Really pretty?" He leant forward against the stall, almost crushing quite a few tomatoes. "Was her name Suki?!"

"I didn't get a name, but that's her to a T," the shopkeep admitted, almost surprised at Sokka's sudden reaction.

"Do you know where she is?" he demanded, putting almost all his weight on his hands to lean forward into the shopkeep's face. The man leant back, awkwardly.

"No, sorry, but she probably stayed in one of the inns. You could ask around," the man said, "She's one of your missing friends?"

"Yeah!" Sokka said, despite how obvious the answer was. The grin on his face was huge and bright, and he didn't even care that the shopkeep had described the girl as sickly. It meant Suki was alive. It meant Suki was here for him. It meant Suki had found him and was wandering, and it meant he could sweep her up in his arms and take care of her.

He let out one long excited breath, and he said, "Thanks, Mister."

And then he sped off, leaving his rice behind. He heard the shopkeep calling for him, but that didn't matter – Sokka was already racing down the market street, in long, energetic strides.

He headed straight for the inn he had tried to get a room in weeks ago.


	4. False

I'm really trying to get this finished :) Currently I stand at about 100,000 words total, so I figure I can finish in 120k. We'll see!

I am not entirely happy with Katara, but, well, I'm trying. She's actually one of the only characters I have extremely difficulty writing, to be honest.

Hope you're all having a fantastic evening!

**CHAPTER FOUR: FALSE**



Sokka spotted her from across the room.

"Suki!" he called, stunned.

From the back, he had assumed she was Suki – she had the same short brown hair, but when she turned around he realized she was completely different. Her nose was bigger, her eyes smaller, and her mouth wasn't quite so fierce-yet-easily-kissed looking. Her armour was missing, as was the elaborate gold pieces on her headband. He tried to think of her name.

"Aah... wait for it..." He racked his brain for her name. Why did they all have such elusive names? Sheesh. "Uh... you're..."

"Sokka," she said, clearly, and she stood up and started towards him. Sokka let out a grin and a sound of relief at being recognized, but it was short-lived. The barkeep had finished with his customers and turned, looking his way. A man at the bar turned, too, at the sound of the loud teenagers, and Sokka belatedly realized they were the same men that had thrown his party out a week before.

"Hey, that's him," the man said. "I told you he'd been skulking around town!"

"Throw him out, Bokko, and take care of him," the barkeep growled, and Sokka knew he was in for a rougher time. He made a beeline for the Kyoshi warrior, and he had barely made it five steps when Bokko caught up with him.

He felt himself get hoisted up by the collar, and within a moment, men from Bokko's party were rising up with him. Sokka could barely prevent it, though he struggled to stay routed in the ground. He put up a good fight, but within a moment, he was being dragged out, regardless of his protests.

This time, despite his complaints and wild struggling, there was no being left at the door.

"We took mercy on you last time," Bokko growled as he hefted Sokka up against the side of the building. Sokka tried to recall what he had been taught about grabs and holds, and he didn't waste energy on trying to get free. Instead, he took ahold of Bokko's wrist, to better support his own weight, instead of letting his shirt carry him by the armpits.

The other men had followed them out, and a few were stripping off their over jackets or stretching their arms. Sokka eyed them all apprehensively, and he said, sharply, "Yeah, so? I'm just looking for a friend, I'm not here to hurt anyone."

"Oh yeah? I thought we told you to never come back, no matter what," Bokko replied, and Sokka turned his eyes on Bokko with a grimace.

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," he replied, feeling appropriately cool. He remembered what Suki had told him, months and months and months ago, and he lifted his legs and put all his strength into kicking Bokko straight in the chest.

It did exactly what Suki said it would –– it threw Bokko down like a sack of rocks, for one, and because Sokka was being held up by said sack of rocks, he went down too. The impact left his tailbone sore as Bokko doubled, lying on the ground, and Sokka picked himself up quickly.

He was still in a circle of men ready to kick the shit out of him, or kill him, for supposedly being Fire nation. Sokka shrugged off the drop and pulled his club from the strap on his back. Even if it was cheap to fight unarmed people with weapons, well... they were still a group of thugs out to get him. Things Suki had taught him about turning the strength of others against themselves floated to mind, but he knew he had a better chance with a club than trying to go one-on-thug with a bunch of guys with only his hands.

To say Sokka was at a disadvantage was an understatement, as there were seven sets of arms to his club and his free hand, and he couldn't really use his boomerang effectively in such close quarters. The men closed in, and despite being able to deliver a smack to one in the head, knocking him right out, and breaking the shoulder of another, Sokka was face-down on the ground in mere minutes, with a foot on the small of his back and a set of strong hands holding his arms behind his back.

Bokko wasn't down for long, and despite a nasty blow to the ribcage, he was on his feet again and standing over Sokka with a nasty look on his face. Sokka felt his lip oozing blood.

"Think you're hot stuff, boy? Why don't you _firebend_ your way outta this one, eh?" he was told, bluntly, and Sokka felt the continuing need to argue.

"Firebend?! I can't even waterbend, how the hell would I know that?" he said, and was replied with a foot pressuring down on the back of his head, pushing his face against the dirt.

"A usual excuse," was the rough reply.

"He's not a firebender," a girl said, suddenly, and Sokka grit his teeth, unable to turn his head. Even so, he knew who it was: the Kyoshi warrior had managed to get herself out of the tavern and involved, and he only wondered why it had taken her so long. "Let him up!"

"What's it to you?" Bokko replied.

"He's a friend of mine, and no Kyoshi warrior would ever make friends with a Fire nation. We're loyal Earth kingdom subjects, and we've been protecting your borders for months and months now," she said.

Bokko sneered, and said, "Let 'im up."

Sokka felt the hands and feet leave him, but a firm hand take ahold of his wolftail. He was half-jerked to his knees, climbing the rest of the way himself, and he looked up at the girl gratefully. Thank heavens for the Kyoshi warriors and kick ass girls.

"Hey, thanks, let go of my hair," Sokka demanded, and Bokko gave him a jerk.

"Not so fast. If she's your friend, what's her name?"

The girl looked at him straight in the eyes, and he didn't even bother trying to remember her name. He said, immediately, "Her name's Suki. She's my _girlfriend._"

"And he's Sokka," the girl said, as soon as Bokko's eyes moved to her, suspiciously. She was trying hard not to smile. "My... boyfriend."

"Yeah," Sokka said, quickly. Bokka looked skeptical, but the girl wasn't going to relent, even if, in Sokka's opinion, she didn't look terribly confident. There was an odd nervousness to her, when she made demands.

"Is this how the Earth kingdom acts?" she demanded, "Turning against each other out of fear? Let him go, we'll leave, I promise."

She reached out her hand to Sokka and he took it, and his hair was released almost instantly. He glanced over his shoulder at the men as he rose to his feet, his head throbbing with pain. The girl sidled up to him.

Bokko seemed ready to say something else, but after a second he just sneered and waved them off with a scoff. "Just stay the hell out of this town, troublemaker."

"Gladly," Sokka said, linking his arm with the Kyoshi warrior's and pushing past two of the men and marching her off, even if his kneecaps burned when he walked. He paused as he stepped over the body of one he had knocked out, and he added, even if he wasn't particularly remorseful, "Sorry about that."

And the two of them walked right out of town, waiting until they were well out of earshot to talk. Sokka tried to open up earlier than that, of course, but he would start, fumble, and shut up, desperate to talk to her but unwilling to do it in front of the rest of the village. She was much shorter than Suki, and lacked Suki's long, confident strides. Sokka had to purposely slow his own long steps so that she could keep up with him.

When they neared the big frog rock, Sokka pulled them to the side, and said, "C'mon. Our secret hideout's this way, Katara and Toph are up there, er...?"

He waited for a name.

"My name's Tama," she said, as he tried to give her a hand around the rock, despite the fact that she didn't really need it –– she easily did it herself, and then reached over to help _him. _Kyoshi warriors were capable girls, Sokka knew that well, but he couldn't help being a gentleman, even when he had just been beaten.

"Nice to meet you, Tama, I'm..."

"Sokka," she finished. And then, stifling another giggle, she added, "My boyfriend, right?"

He flushed and felt flustered, but there were more important things on his mind, and Suki was one of them. "Hey, it was the first thing that came to mind."

"I understand. I'm sorry for not jumping to save you immediately," she said, with a smile, "They intervened and blocked me at the door. Are you alright? Suki was right, you do hold up a great fight."

Sokka cracked his neck experimentally, and cringed. Pain shot along his shoulders and neck, and he uncomfortably tested his jaw. He said, "No problem. I was outnumbered, but I'm okay."

"Okay? Your face is bleeding in four places," she said, and he politely pulled his arm from her grip. She asked, "Are you sure?"

"Er," Sokka trailed, and he wiped off his chin with his wrist. He glanced at the smear, and decided he wasn't bleeding too badly. It hardly bothered him, as he had found a Kyoshi warrior and had much more important things to demand of her, rather than help. "Yeah, I'm fine. Katara will fix me up." He kept walking, and she followed suite, and he ignored the sting in his legs by asking, "What happened with the Fire nation girls? Where's Suki? Is she okay?"

Tama turned her head to look at him and she gave a horrible grimace, the type that made Sokka's heart sink.

"I..." she trailed, and then she said, bluntly, "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Sokka demanded.

"I haven't been able to go after her," she admitted.

Sokka stopped dead in his tracks, and could hardly contain his shock. He choked out an embarrassingly high-pitched "What?!"

Tama seemed embarrassed, and she looked away while Sokka had a small spastic fit out of frustration. She said, awkwardly, "I'll explain when we're at your house, okay?"

He grimaced and resisted the urge to scowl. He was grateful for her being here, but his hope and brief optimism had decided to take a vacation for however long, and it chewed at his good mood.

"Fine."



"Sokka," Katara said, with a smile, but her smile faded when she saw his face.

Somehow, Katara couldn't continue that right away. When she turned, she saw his face up close. His left eye was blackened, and there was an ugly gash across his lip, and his cheeks were red. Sokka seemed like he had been smacked around at least a little bit, and he knew it.

"What did you do?" she demanded, and Sokka's determination faded rapidly, to some sort of fleeting ashamed look. When he didn't reply, she grabbed his arm and demanded, louder, "What did you do?!"

"I was down at the tavern, and I got into a fight with a bunch of the soldiers. Look, Katara, I'm fine," Sokka said, "This is more important. Meet Tama."

Katara's eyes shifted off of Sokka's face and onto the Kyoshi warrior girl with surprise. It was if, at first, she thought it was Suki, too, but that was because the clothes were so similar. Tama herself looked nothing like Suki up close. But under all the make-up and robes, Sokka supposed someone who hadn't spent much time with any of the girls wouldn't be able to do such a good job at telling them apart.

Not that he could either, but he knew Suki.

"Tama! Pleased to meet you," Katara said, with a polite bow her head. She glanced at Sokka questioningly, and then asked Tama, "Where are the rest of the Kyoshi warriors?" There was a slight pause, and perhaps realizing how awkward it was to care more about that than the individual, Katara added, swiftly, "But come in! Let's go inside and I'll make tea and whatnot…"

Tama smiled and Sokka rolled his eyes, and they both followed Katara inside. Katara took Sokka by the arm and marched him over to the table, and she sat him down with little gentleness. He cringed at being jerked around, and complained about it loudly.

"Can't a guy get beat up and NOT be thrown around?" he asked, and Katara opened up her water pack to stream some out. It fluttered in Sokka's face, and he leant back, but she was faster.

It was the weirdest thing, to be healed by water, and in the past, Katara had rarely been allowed to healed him. Sokka wasn't one for stupid magic, and he usually liked to let nature heal him. Sure, sometimes he was left with stupid injuries, like a sore tailbone after falling off of Appa and straight onto a rock, or skinned knees after trying to slide across the waxed floors in their place in Ba Sing Se, but never was he going to be pansy enough to get Katara to heal things like that for him. A broken bone? Sure. But otherwise, Sokka was man enough to let nature take its course, even if it left scars.

"Stop that," he said to Katara, but it was too late: he was speaking into a water bubble, and he felt his skin crawl with what was supposed to be a healing sensation. Seconds later, his skin felt tight and stretched, but admittedly, it wasn't sore or bleeding anymore. He grumbled his thanks, and Tama laughed.

"He held his own rather well," she said, mostly to Katara, "Suki'd be impressed, I think."

"You _think?"_ Sokka said, "Nah, she'd beat me for a few hours and tease me forever, but yeah, maybe be a bit impressed, but not mention it. But I'd know."

Katara raised an eyebrow and Tama laughed again.

"He still got hurt, though," Katara replied, and Sokka shrugged, folding his arms.

"Whatever, Katara," Sokka said, "This is Tama, and she's a Kyoshi warrior, and she knows what happened to everyone else, but she didn't want to tell me until we got here."

Toph continued, "Who?"

"Tama," Sokka said.

"Nice to meet you, Toph," Tama said, with a curt bow. Toph replied likewise, minus the bow, and Tama sat down with the rest of them.

"I'm so glad I found Sokka," she said, "if I didn't, there might be problems."

"Where's Suki? Why couldn't you go after her? What happened to you guys?" Sokka demanding, focusing immediately on the Kyoshi warriors. He went on, endlessly, listing off questions that were getting more and more irrelevant, until Tama reached across the table and forcibly closed his flapping mouth.

"Sorry," she apologized, "but be quiet."

She let go, and Sokka resumed his position on tenterhooks. Katara looked concerned but mildly excited, and Toph leant against the table. Tama took a long breath, and launched into an explanation about encountering Appa and caring for him, and then encountering Azula and her team in the forest.

"I figured that from the place, I found where you fought," Sokka said, "How long ago?"

"That was two months ago," Tama said, "Azula was there. Her friends made short work of us, and she personally fought Suki."

Sokka clambered to his feet and demanded, "Is she alright?!"

Tama raised her hands in the air, in defense, in surrender, and she said, quickly, "She was alive when I last saw her!"

Katara grabbed him by the arm and jerked him to sit down again, and he opted to kneel on the ground and hold the edge of the table, as if ready to spring back up at any moment. Tama let out a long breath and she continued, slowly, "Azula fought with Suki..."



_They faced off again._

"_I'm Suki, leader of the Kyoshi warriors," the girl announced, without being invited._

_Azula, for the most part, ignored her. She didn't care about names, or warriors, or intentions. She only cared about results, and as long as there was a group of irritating girls blocking her way, she didn't give a damn about the girl's identity. Her focus was entirely placed on eliminating whatever was barricading her way, and if this girl was talking, she couldn't do that, unless she attacked her mid-sentence. That wasn't an option, perhaps: the girl was a friend of the Avatar, and Azula couldn't go destroying those people before she got information._

_Her heart was set solely on the act of destroying, and it brought her a tremendous inner peace and calmness._

"_Charmed, I'm sure," Azula replied, almost flippantly._

"_And your name?" the girl demanded._

"_I'm sure you already know," Azula said, sinking into a fighting pose, lifting her arms and preparing to rush. The girl just lifted her chin and her fans again, the golden metal glinting in the light._

"_Of course," the girl replied, and Azula snorted. "But it's only polite and honourable to introduce yourself, as well."_

"_Then don't try to distract me with words," Azula replied, "and do battle, like an honourable warrior––"_

_The girl didn't let her finish. She sprinted forward, surprisingly agile for someone clad in such heavy robes, and Azula shot off a stream of lightning that razed and burned the grass in thick ropes, each one missing the intended target by fractions. The Kyoshi warriors weren't exactly hard hitters, but even Azula had to admit their cunning and use of defense._

_She shot a last stream. The lightning was absorbed into the metal of the fan, and disappeared, but the edges of the metal glowed red hot, and in her thick gloves, the Kyoshi warrior wasn't harmed by it at all. Azula had to duck when the girl brought the fan up in front of her face and struck forward, and although the hot metal didn't touch her, she felt its heat near her skin._

_Another close blow didn't ensure her victory._

_Azula let out a snort and dashed forward, but as her foot and rush of flames neared the girl, her eyesight went completely white for an instant, and her eyeballs burned. She had to close her eyes, even as she brought her foot towards the girl's head, but she felt no contact made. By time she had them open, and clear of the pain she wasn't expecting, she saw that the girl was no longer within smashing range: she had dropped low, and she swung her weight around, sweeping Azula right off her standing foot._

_Azula crashed down, and the girl sprung up and forward with the fans. Azula could only dodge, and she rolled instinctively. It was hardly a graceful and masterful motion, but she rolled right onto her feet afterwards, leaving Suki in the dust._

_Her eyes drifted to the fans in the girl's hands as she prepared for another round, and she realized, immediately, that the girl was angling them to blind her. Sure enough, a second later, Suki had turned the fans over, and Azula had the lights clear in her eyes._

_She moved and brought her fingers to her lips, and blew._

_The gust of fire was enormous, and it blackened the trees around them without catching, as flash-fire was neither lasting nor reliable, but it created an immense heat and rolled off everything as it went. It was suitable for stunning, and stun it did­­ – the girl was frozen in place, her eyes clamped shut, but she didn't falter when Azula moved to take advantage of it._

_The girl cut up with the fan, and Azula ducked with only fractions of a second to spare. She felt her shoulder pauldrons scratch against it, just skimming the surface, and Azula realized, quite angrily, that she would have had the joint of her shoulder smashed, had it connected._

_Her fury doubled, and doubled again, as she hurled her body into a spinning kick and lashed at the girl with great arcs of lightning-fire, the flames burning on the path her body left. She struck hard and fast, with great bursts of flash-fire that scorched what it touched and then shriveled away. Azula's opponent was strong; she knew that much, given her extraordinary resilience, but the girl's face was red beneath her war paint. Azula could see it on her delicate throat, on the way her eyes squinted._

"_Child's play," she hissed, on the final thrust of her palm, fire singing and scorching, and as the girl let out a pained gasp. Azula felt victory on her lips, hot and delicious, and she flung the girl to the ground with a kick to the head._

_The body crumpled and landed, stunned, on the grass. Azula bounced off her palms and to her feet, with a perfect landing. She straightened up, gave a smirk, and paced over to the body._

_She rolled it over with a push of her boot, the curved tip hooking under the girl's side. The body lurched over, and Azula stood over it, not bothering to lean down. Ty Lee sauntered up beside her and crouched down, resting her elbows on her knees._

"_She's the leader?" Ty Lee replied. She glanced up at Azula and said, "Woah, are you breaking a sweat, Azula? That went quicker than I thought. I thought it'd take longer to get her down, but I guess you got a lucky strike, huh?"_

_Azula did not break sweats, and Azula did not win on lucky notes. She absently lifted a hand to her brow and, when she felt the slickness of her skin, she let out an irritated breath and ignored Ty Lee's comment, and merely said, "Apparently, she is."_

"_Keroppi warriors, huh?" Ty Lee said, frowning. "Considerin' they're cool enough to have their own name, I'd think they'd have a lot more cool moves."_

_Azula rolled her shoulders, perfectly aware of the soreness in her limbs as she did, but she ignored it and corrected, "Kyoshi Warriors. They're named for the Avatar."_

"_Right!" Ty Lee replied. She sprung to her feet and clapped her hands once, hard. "Do you think there's a connection?!"_

"_They had the Avatar's bison," Azula said, impatiently._

_Ty Lee's round face lit up with delight and wonder, and she said, "Ooh! That's riiight!"_

_Azula turned her attention away from Ty Lee and reached down to grab the unconscious girl by the collar. The fabric bunched and pulled up from the bodice of the armour, and Azula moved her grip to the shoulder straps. She hoisted the body up, the head lolling back, and she lifted her palm experimentally._

"_Azula!" Ty Lee said, almost admonishing, but Mai shushed her with one long finger pressed against her lips._

_Azula couldn't hold the body up by the collar for long, as she just didn't possess the upper body strength. The warrior's knees hit the ground soundlessly, cushioned by the grass. But she could hold her upright, at least, where Azula could keep her positioned for marking._

_She was in a mood, certainly, enraged at herself for making such a stupid mistake. The body was alive, of course, but that wasn't the problem. The problem at hand was that the girl in her grip was unconscious, and Azula knew she couldn't do it right if she didn't have the ability to deliver a victory speech first. Her father and his generals had always given victory speeches before marking their victims, before burning their faces, so they'd never forget their loss._

_Her blood boiled with rage at the idea of not getting it right yet once more. She lifted her hand anyway, and the flames surged before her palm. Azula struggled to keep it strong, and to keep it constant, but the flames didn't twist in a sphere like it was supposed to. Instead, they flickered back and forth, swirling in different directions, and the heat failed to intensify. It never had in the past, and it still didn't now, but it was better than before._

_It'd never leave a worthy mark, but Azula refused to give up. She drove it into the girl's forehead, just below the hairline, and when the flames subsided, she was angry to see it barely left what would be a first-degree burn. Not even the acrid stench of burning hair and skin could possibly comfort her failure._

_She was about to throw the body aside when Mai interrupted, calmly._

"_Azula," she said, "are we going to do something or play with bodies all day?"_

_Azula glanced over, and let her face twist into a sneer, one eyebrow dipping and the corner of her mouth curling in contempt. She dropped the body and it crumpled in the grass and dirt, amongst the ashes falling from the trees above, falling like rain from the smouldering trees. The fires had burnt out relatively quickly on the fresh trees, mostly smoking until they went out. The only exception was the large log, which had been from a tree that was dead, and its dry, brittle wood still seared with flames._

"_Are any alive?" Azula asked, crisply._

"_Well, yeah, but only one's gonna be chatty."_

_Ty Lee gave a grin and gestured over her shoulder. Besides the numerous green-clad bodies lying about amongst the trees, there was one girl still conscious, mostly unharmed. The shoulders and sleeves of her coat had been pinned to the tree with a deadly accuracy, and her limbs hung from her body like a stationary marionette's, useless and immobile. Ty Lee gave a celebratory cheer and did a backflip._

"_One caught and ready to be questioned, courtesy the Ty Lee and Mai Tree-Pinning and Pressure-Poking Brigade!" she cheered, and Mai rolled her eyes. Azula ignored the nonsense and walked up between them, stopping to stand a few feet away from the prisoner. She folded her arms and stared the girl down with vicious, golden eyes._

"_So," Azula said, "if that one over there is the leader, who are you?"_

_The girl gritted her teeth, and said, defiantly, "A Kyoshi warrior."_

_Azula wasn't impressed by this answer. She strode forward, and she put her palm against the bark of the tree, right under the girl's arm. The bark heated rapidly, tendrils of smoke curling off of it in wisps. The girl looked down at it, frantically, and Azula asked again._

"_What's your name?" Azula demanded._

"_I'm a Kyoshi warrior!" the girl repeated, though her voice was higher and less sure of itself. Before Azula could ask again, the girl repeated, yet again, "I'm a Kyoshi warrior! That's our code!"_

"_Kyoshi Island," Azula replied, calmly. "Where Avatar Kyoshi was born. I've heard of it many times... off the southern peninsula, isn't it? Just a pathetic fishing village? Is it worth sending Fire nation there?"_

"_Don't you dare," the girl hissed, and Azula only gave a vague smile as the girl tried to reign herself in. It was like trying to spread a thin cloth over a gaping wound: it worked, to some extent, but the blood still flowed like wine._

"_What is your connection to the Avatar?" Azula asked._

"_Kill me, I won't say a word," the girl spat, but when Azula lifted two fingers to the girl's face, she squirmed her upper body and said, swiftly, "I won't say!"_

_Azula recognized the girl's fear of death, despite her insistence. She supposed that, under the pressure of the Fire nation's ruthless princess, that any would crumble, even beg for death, be it for the Avatar's good or her own._

"_It's truly a shame to rid the world of female warriors, as pathetic as you are," Azula stated, "Seldom have I seen women in the Earth kingdom stand up on their own feet. It seems that strength amongst women is a trait unique to the Fire nation."_

"_Better one of few than a tyrant woman of a nation once-honest and once-loved!" was the snapped reply, fearful and defensive, and Azula struck._

_The lightning that shot from her fingertips was hot and rapid, white-blue with heat and intense all the way through. It struck the girl in the face, as she was unable to move, and she died instantly. Azula turned her eyes away, almost bored and discontent, her temper rolling inside of her like a tempest, and she turned her eyes on her companions._

_Ty Lee chirped a pleasant, "Wow, this is intense!"_

_Azula glanced at Ty Lee, and considered speaking to her, but she instead turned to Mai. Mai blinked once, and then again, and Azula said, "I have a task for you." She took a glance around the fallen young women, as if taking inventory, and her eyes narrowed._

"_Yes?"_

"_Go to the nearest village with Fire nation occupation –– I believe there's one six li from here. Find the commanding officer, and demand he make room for four prisoners. Not from the resistance –– friends of the Avatar. I want them kept in condition for questioning."_

_She paused and looked about again, and then to Ty Lee, suspiciously, "Weren't there six, including the one on the tree?"_

_Ty Lee glanced about, and shrugged._

"_Guess not! Four plus Tree."_

_Azula didn't reply, either verbally or expressively, and she looked down at the body of the leader with a distinct discontent._



"And where were you?" Sokka demanded.

Tama looked down, awkwardly, and she replied, "The one who touches an opponents pressure points to immobilize them... she and I fought, and my body fell into a patch of bushes. I couldn't move, my legs and arms were completely frozen. The leader before Suki, she had taught us how to do that, but we hadn't seen that technique in a long, long time. I couldn't move, so I didn't speak, and they didn't realize I was still there."

"You're lucky," Katara said, "they're ruthless... if they found you..."

Sokka glanced at Katara sidelong, still looking angry, and she looked away pointedly. Tama sighed and continued.

"So I knew where they were going, but there wasn't much I could do. Once they were gone and my mobility was back, I considered going after them, but I was too weak and all alone. Kyoshi warriors are made to work as a unit, and I knew that rushing in alone to fight all those Fire nation soldiers, plus Azula and her girls, was a stupid thing. So I waited to see what I could learn."

"Did you hear anything?" Sokka pressed, "So they are still alive, right? Maybe a bit banged up, but if they're just in prison, right? We can go and bust them out."

"I don't think it'll be that easy," Tama replied, "plus, we don't even know that for sure."

"Then let's go and find out," Sokka said, rising to his feet again. He moved towards the cupboard to his pack, as if he was going to set out in the next ten minutes. Katara's eyebrows furrowed and Tama frowned.

She hesitated a second, and then said, "Sokka, stop."

He held onto his sleeping bag and looked over at the girls, and frowned, too. He said, "Why? We have to save Suki and the rest of them!"

"That might be impossible!" Tama replied, and Sokka was unable to resist his aggravation. He pitched the sleeping bag at her like he would pitch a rock, and while Katara ducked, Tama lifted her arm and knocked it right out of the air and over behind her, harmlessly. Sokka let out a hard breath.

"You're a coward," he snapped, "you're a coward. You hid to avoid getting caught with them, you deserted them, and that makes you a yellow-bellied weakling."

"She wouldn't be here if she didn't, Sokka," Katara argued, rising on her knees.

"I don't care," Sokka replied. He really did care. "She deserted Suki and everyone else, and now she's too chicken to make an effort to save them! The Kyoshi warrior code is her duty and she's throwing it away like a sissy! She's here, free, while they might not even be alive, and she refuses to help them. She has _no_ honour if she's not even willing to try!"

Tama just stared, unable to argue, it seemed. There was an awkward pause, and Sokka just went on being annoyed, although his anger was pretty much wasted on his venting. Tama put a hand to her face for a moment, covering her eyes, and eventually, she lifted her head again with a sigh. Sokka went on frowning, until she spoke.

"Point taken, Sokka. You're right, I should do something. I'm going to go down to the Fire detention center, in the colony. It's about sixteen li from here, so I can probably make it there by tomorrow. I'll find out what I can about the place, and then come back here and let you know. And… I'm really sorry," Tama said, tentatively, "but… I don't think I'll have any good news for you, Sokka. Please don't get your hopes up too high."

He strode over to them again and rounded the table so he was nearer to her.

"I want to go with you," Sokka said, immediately, "I have to know, Tama. I have to know for myself, I can't stand waiting in this place anymore."

"Sokka," Katara said, testily, laying a hand on his shoulder with a concerned look, and Sokka shook her off.

He knelt down in front of Tama and dipped his head down, and asked, "Please, take me with you."

Tama seemed to honestly consider him for a moment, but the polite smile on her face slipped away reluctantly. She said, "I'm sorry, Sokka, but Katara and Aang, and Toph, they all need you. If Aang wakes up, you won't be here, and you'll need to be. I'm sorry I can't offer you a better reason to stay behind, but it's safer if I go alone."

Sokka lifted his head and protested, "But why didn't you go before? Why now, alone still?"

"Because it's my duty," Tama replied, simply, and Sokka almost winced at the hypocrisy of it all.

"But..." he trailed off, unable to disagree. It was her duty, and Katara, Toph and Aang did need him, even if he harboured little optimism of Aang waking so soon. The monk's state hadn't changed at all in weeks, and he didn't have Katara's unyielding hope.

"I understand," he said finally, and then added, "We'll get you everything you need for the journey, though, and then you have to come back. You have to promise."

Tama smiled again, and gave a clipped laugh that lacked honesty. She said, "Alright, Sokka. I promise."

"Thank you," Sokka said. He was a bit embarrassed by now relieved and needy he sounded, but he swallowed it bitterly. He didn't quite understand, but a step forward was a step regardless.

That morning, Sokka rose to see her off, and he silently walked with her as far as the village. There, at the end of the lane, she pressed a sisterly kiss to his cheek, and she said, sadly, "For both of our sakes, I hope she's alive. I can't imagine being led into battle by anyone else."

He just nodded and they exchanged "See you"s and "good luck"s, and then she was gone, and if Sokka wasn't tethered to his family by an invisible chain, he'd be racing to keep up with her.

Anything, really, to get to Suki.



When Sokka saw someone who _wasn't_ Tama coming up the hill, he didn't hesitate: he raced back to the house, and shouted at Katara, "We have to leave RIGHT now."

"Why?" Katara said, surprised, looking up from the cauldron she was cooking in. He was busy dragging the giant leafy blanket he had made right over Appa, to shield him from view, though the house did a great job of that already.

"It doesn't matter now," he said, firmly, "Just... we have to go! Or we have to run! Or something! Pretend to be Fire nationers!"

"We can't move Aang, why do we have to run?" Katara insisted, and Sokka crossed the room. He shoved open the chest and rifled through it madly, throwing bits of clothing everywhere. Two scrolls bounced to the floor and rolled away.

"I was looking around, and there are Fire soldiers coming up this way. They're coming up to find us and they could be here any minute, _please_, Katara, please, just wake up Toph and get Aang and we'll go..."

"You want us to move him?! We can't move him! He could die!" Katara said, loudly, and Sokka cringed, visibly. Toph, despite being able to sleep like a rock, was groggily stirring, suddenly.

"Would you rather they find out what he is?" Sokka demanded, with his back to her still. He flung his old bag across the room, and it hit the wall and fell to the floor. "We just need to... I dunno, get out of sight and earshot, or..."

"What are you yelling about?" Toph asked, sleepily, turning towards the sound of their voices.

"Fire soldiers are coming," Katara said, heavily, and Toph was up on her hands and knees in a flash. Toph scrambled to get off her bedding, and pressed her palms to the tatami. After a second, she gave an angry scoff, and she groped for the edge of the mat she was on. Lifting up the corner, Toph slid her hands to the bare earth underneath, and "listened".

Sokka turned around suddenly, with a triumphant grin, and he held up a bundle of red clothes.

"Where did you get those?" Katara demanded, and Sokka tossed a set at her.

"It doesn't matter," he said, bluntly, as he threw another set at Toph. They bounced off her head, and she complained. Sokka ignored her and continued, as he yanked off his shirt, "Put 'em on, we'll pretend to be, er... recent converters."

There was a fuss from Katara immediately.

"What about Aang?" Her hands were on her hips, the clothes draped over one wrist. She said, "everyone knows what the arrow markings mean. They'll know it's him, even if they don't recognize us."

As Sokka dragged the red pants over his blue ones, despite their being too big, Toph said, loudly, "Do you guys completely forget things?! Sokka, go hold them off, they're close, we'll finish here..."

"What?"

"Just _go_," Toph snapped.

Sokka gave her an annoyed look, his eyebrows lifting and his mouth twisting into a pout at being ordered around, and he took off out the still-open door, fumbling with the ties on his pants.

"Wait!" Katara called, "Take your hair down! Just in case!"

He tried to take his hair down and hold his pants up at the same time. The wolftail went down and he forked his fingers through it, and the red pants threatened to slip down to his knees. They likely would have, if he hadn't seized them and shoved the front into the waistband of his regular pants. He left his shirt un-tucked.

Sokka knew he'd look smooth, anyway.

The soldiers were coming up over the edge of the hill at a jog, sending little avalanches of loose stone and dirt tumbling off the bottoms of their shoes as they ran. Sokka jogged towards them, casual as possible, to put as much space between them and the cabin as possible. When he reached them, he put on a grin.

"What can I do for you guys?" he asked, casually, and his winning look faded when the leading soldier –– a captain, Sokka knew, based off of the shape of his shoulder pauldrons and chest armour –– gave him a withering look.

"We're looking for a bunch of kids," he said, sternly. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, and he eyed Sokka up and down. "We were told by the villagers that a bunch of weird kids connected to the Avatar lived up here, and we saw someone come off the path. Figured we'd check it out."

"You made that long walk just to come see us?" Sokka said, and then added, quickly and in his best serious voice, "I don't know about Avatars, though. I mean, it's just us up here, nothing weird at all, we just... live alone. Yeah."

He grinned again, and the captain did not look convinced in the slightest. Sokka paused to rethink, and then he continued, "Yeah, I'd invite you guys in for tea, but we have none, so... will you be going now?"

"We'll be going when we're finished business here, boy," said the captain, and a few of the foot-soldiers snickered behind his back. Sokka frowned, and the captain took a step closer, only to continue, "You don't look Fire nation. Why are you wearing their clothes?"

Sokka wasn't sure what to make of that, given his and Katara's different skin-tones and facial features, and he knew straight-up admitting there were people from the Water tribes here was stupid. They were so few and far-between in the Earth kingdom that any idiot would recognize that there were some traveling with the Avatar. So, all he could do is say, "We're––er, were, Earth nation, but we understand the Fire nation's goal, sir."

"Funny," said the captain, with the slightest mocking twinge. "You don't look Earth nation, either."

Sokka could continue without hesitation here, because Toph had been drilling this into his head for the past weeks nonstop, like river cycle: "Earth is the biggest nation, with the biggest variety of people. Kind of like, well... the earth."

"I see," drawled the captain. He did not supply more.

"Yeah," Sokka said.

"Inspect the place," the captain ordered. There was a hiss of breath through the masks of the foot-soldiers, and they fell out of rank, breezing by Sokka, who didn't hesitate to tail them.

"Wait," he said, "wait, don't go in!"

They didn't stop, and he thought on his toes, supplying the excuse immediately.

"My sister's changing in there!"

Again, they didn't stop, and the nearest one forced open the sliding door with little gentleness. Sokka caught up quick, and leaned around the crowding soldiers to see Katara in the door-frame, in the red pants, although her shirt wasn't done up. She fumbled with the shoulder of it. Her hair was down, except for the top, which had been drawn into the typical Fire-nation style.

She let out a loud, protesting growl, and said, "Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?"

Sokka thought, helplessly, as he approached the door and squeezed between two sets of nasty shoulder armour, that maybe she shouldn't be picking fights with them. It really just wasn't the time.

"Sister," he said, bluntly, "they just want to inspect. They're looking for the kids traveling with the Avatar. Silly, huh?"

He looked at her dead in the eyes as he said it, though he tried to look casual. Katara kept her gaze locked on her brother's for a mere moment, and then she said to the approaching captain, with great gusto, "You're not welcome to barge into our home."

The look on the captain's face darkened, and Sokka saw his hand stray to his hip, to the hilt of a broadsword. He acted fast.

"Hey," Sokka said, louder, "they run us now, don't they? It'll only take a minute, stop being so rebellious. Do as I say, I'm in charge, just let 'em by."

Katara gave him a dark look, but she didn't protest anymore. The captain let out a chuckle, and he placed his hand on her shoulder to push her aside, but Katara shrugged it off and moved herself. The soldiers passed through, and Sokka eagerly followed, and Katara elbowed him in the ribs as he went. He hid his cringe.

Aang was nowhere in sight, and Toph was sitting on her bedding with her legs tucked under her, hair up in the Fire-nation ponytail like Katara's. She stared straight ahead, blindly, and she gave a weak turn of her head at the sound of their entrance. Her posture was immaculate.

"Who's here?" Toph asked.

"She's our companion. She's blind," Sokka explained, and he glanced around the room casually, looking for Aang. When he didn't find him, he looked questioningly to Katara, who was shadowing the captain and ignoring Sokka.

"What do you want?" Katara asked.

"Don't you listen? We're looking for the Avatar's friends, on Princess Azula's orders," the captain said, walking over to stand over Toph. She didn't move an inch. "The Avatar's body disappeared, and the Princess wants it. We're trying to locate it."

The soldiers split apart across the room, opening the closets and cupboards, throwing the hastily-repacked trunk apart. Sokka watched them with baited breath, sure they would find Aang's clothes, or the Water-style clothing, or the scrolls, but somehow, they didn't emerge from the trunk. He glanced at Katara, full of questions, but she just kept her eyes on the captain. She gave the slightest shake of her head, barely moving.

After a moment, content that they had not found anything remotely Avatar-related, the soldiers returned to the captain with directions.

"Nothing, sir," they all chorused.

"Very well," the captain said, relenting with an irritated sigh. He cast his eyes about the room, scanning Sokka and Katara for answers, and they both stayed calm. But as his eyes passed between them, they stopped and focused. "What's that?"

Katara and Sokka turned as one, and Sokka felt his chest constrict when he saw Aang's glider. One of the soldiers started towards it to take it, but Sokka sprang forward, seizing it first.

"It's just a stick," he said, "it's a walking stick."

"Really?" the captain said, and held his hand out, "let me see it."

Sokka hesitated.

"What's wrong?" the captain said. "Hand it over."

Sokka looked to his sister, who gave him a blank, helpless look. She held her breath, and the captain started to implore again, so he held out the glider hesitantly.

The captain took it, harshly, his large hands easily wrapping around the wood with considerable ease. He held in both hands, parallel to the floor, and his eyes ran down the length of the body.

Sokka, with his never-ending interest in machinery and mechanics, had examined the glider on many occasions, whenever he could convince Aang to let him have a look. It was made with a hollow panel on each side, where the spring-loaded glider wings would fold down, and Sokka knew they couldn't be opened without airbending. He had tried on many, many occasions to get it open and take a look at those mechanics, but Aang never seemed too keen on letting him try to take it off the nearest high ledge.

Turning it over in his hands, the captain certainly found the creases in the wood, and he could see where the joints were that supported the crossbar when it was open, but he couldn't seem to open it, no matter how he tried.

"What is this, boy?" he demanded, after a moment of fruitless prying. Sokka felt a moment of smugness.

"It's a walking stick, like I said," he confirmed, feeling plenty more confident. The captain frowned more, and Sokka relaxed, folding his arms in front of his chest. Katara looked mildly hopeful.

"Hmph," the captain snorted, and he put one end of it on the floor, holding it upright. After another moment of inspection, he finally deemed it useless, and he said, "Then you won't miss it."

Both Sokka and Katara tried to stop it, and Toph's mouth dropped open, but before anyone could make any respectable movement, the captain had brought his knee up and snapped the glider's spine over it, in one smooth movement. He dropped the pieces to the floor, a few splinters still binding the pieces together, a long split cracked through it at an ugly angle.

"I suppose we're done here, men," the captain said, and he strode to the door. The soldiers began to follow, and knotted at the doorframe, where the captain stopped to look at Sokka over his shoulders. "Any funny business and we'll be up here in a second, boy. And treat your sister with respect – she isn't chattel, you Earth kingdom men should learn to respect your women."

Sokka seemed like he was going to pick a fight, to either deny having ever been disrespectful, or insist he _did_ have the right to order her around because he _was_ her older brother, but Katara was giving him warning looks. He let them go, and closed the door behind them.

The three waited in silence for many minutes, just to be sure the Fire nationers were gone, before they dared move. Katara slipped to the window, finally, and looked out. When she saw nothing, she grew braver and opened the door, and when she saw no one, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"They're gone," she said. Sokka sank to the floor with a long breath, and dropped his head back, staring up at the ceiling. Toph clutched her cheeks in her hands, uncomfortable, and then dropped them.

"That was a disaster," she said, grumpily, and Sokka, now laying on the floor outright, feeling as if his heart would burst, heartily agreed.

And then, when it had settled in, he sat bolt upright and demanded, "Where's Aang? And our Water tribe stuff?"

Katara moved away from the door and crossed the room to her sleeping bag. She dragged it away, and peeled back the tatami to expose the dirt once more. There was a neat round hole in the hard-packed dirt and earth, and Sokka could not see inside. Toph slid forward and lifted her hands, making a pulling gesture through the air with her fists. The earth shifted in one long, rumbling motion, and the covering slid away, revealing a dug cavity. Sokka stood up and approached it.

Inside was Aang, bundled on Sokka's parka, his eyes closed and his chest gently rising and falling, just as he had been for the past weeks. Hastily thrown down beside him were their clothes.

With the panic over Aang's whereabouts gone, Sokka settled on throwing a fit over the current issue: "My parka's gonna have dirt all over it!"

Katara raised an eyebrow at him, and she replied with the gentle sarcasm she always reserved for him and a select few others. "Oh _no_," she said, dramatically, "a bit of dirt? Sorry, next time we have to avoid that sort of thing, I'll be sure to put the tarp down first!"

Sokka made a face at her and settled on ignoring her. He turned to Toph and asked, "Where the heck did you hide the dirt to make that thing?"

She gave an expression that said she was completely and utterly annoyed at his lack of culture, or so Sokka assumed. He saw that face often, and he was sure that was what it meant, though he couldn't be sure. Toph tended to make incorrect or downright confusing facial expressions, and it boggled him on a constant basis.

"What?" Sokka said.

"ALL Earth kingdom houses have them already," she said, matter-of-factly. Sokka couldn't avoid the sheer amount of superiority she let drip from her voice, he practically drowned in it on a daily basis, and coming from a twelve year old, it was even more degrading. "We keep them for emergencies. What, don't you guys drill holes in the ice or something?"

"No!" Sokka protested, "Why would we do that?! It'd be cold! And no one's crazy enough for anyone to need a magic hole-in-the-ground hide-away!"

"We're not crazy," Toph argued, and Sokka folded his arms and scowled.

"Right."

"Hey, break it up," Katara said, loudly. "Look, we've got a bigger problem now."

"No we don't," Sokka said, eyes still on Toph, rife with challenge. He said, loudly, "She's being a brat."

Katara's eyes narrowed, and he stopped there. Toph scoffed, and Katara said, sharply, "The Fire nation knows where we are. Maybe it's time to find a new place."

"We can't," Sokka shot back, "Tama's coming back HERE, we can't just leave that."

Katara opened her mouth to continue the argument, and then she nodded and closed her mouth. She turned back to Aang, and ran her hand over his forehead, fondly, and didn't say another word.

Sokka just breathed a sigh of relief.



Sokka was up a tree, literally, keeping watch.

He was crammed into the nook between the trunk and a branch jutting out of the tree at a right angle. He had his boomerang in his hand. He was ready to kill the first animal that strayed in his path, because Sokka wanted dinner something fierce. Everything that moved, he registered, he knew it was coming from hundreds of metres away. The rustle in the bushes over there? A deerabbit too small to bother with. The kerfuffle behind those trees? Just a bird.

And still, _still, _a Kyoshi warrior got the jump on him. She shouted, from behind him, "Sokka!" and he fell out of that tree much like raindrops fell from the sky, he was so surprised.

He hit the ground on his feet, as it wasn't too far, but he sank to his butt rather fast, and he groaned when Tama stepped out from the trees and flashed him a raised eyebrow.

She said, "Suki'd laugh at you right now, you know that?"

"Tama, at this point, I would gladly listen to her read from bending scrolls, I am so beyond caring," Sokka said, slightly irked, but he was looking up at Tama, so he couldn't be mad. He said, as he climbed to his feet, "She's not with you. Did you find her?"

"I know where she is, if she's alive," Tama replied, and she paused, when Sokka just stared her down, inexplicable. She said, "I don't know. She's in a facility. Azula's personal guard last night, and apparently she left behind a few prisoners she intended to send for later. If Suki's alive, she's there, but maybe not for long."

"Where is Azula going?"

"Home to the Fire nation," Tama said.

"How do you know this sort of stuff?" Sokka said, rather surprised, "Do they honestly just tell you all sorts of information like this?"

"Drinks," Tama replied, and when Sokka raised an eyebrow, Tama said, "Trust me, when you live on the Island of Kyoshi, you learn plenty. The port is drunk central, they're easy to manipulate."

"So you got a bunch of guards drunk and they told you?"

Tama nodded, and Sokka shrugged and smiled. He picked up his boomerang and said, rather rapidly, "Let's go get Toph and Katara, then, and tell them what's up. And we'll leave as soon as we can!"

As they headed back towards the house, Sokka's gut twisted in his stomach. Was Suki okay? Was she alive? Were they going in there on a hopeless cause?

At the house, Katara frowned, almost concerned, and although she was happy that there was a chance for them to save Suki, she seemed worried all the same. She sat them down with dinner, and agreed they would set out at the crack of dawn. When Sokka protested this and wanted to go out immediately, Katara rebuffed him with a worried, "We'd best be rested and fed before we go."

She went off to heal Aang for a bit, leaving Sokka to mull things over.

He hated it.



Katara brushed her fingertips over Aang's forehead, ruffling his hair. It had been a gradual thing, that hair, first coarse brown stubble, and then just enough to mask the colour of his scalp, and now it was so thick she could run her fingers through it, soft and brown.

She hadn't seen his grey eyes in so many weeks, and someone else had replaced the Aang she knew – laughing, bubbly, grey-eyed and bald-headed. This boy she cared for was sleeping still, he had brown hair and no voice, and his pale eyelids hid any life.

She couldn't tell Sokka, but her hope was dwindling too. She was reminded of the elderly, in that way, really – she was sitting there waiting for a miracle, and after a hundred years, hope was remarkably scarce. When Sokka told her Suki could be alive, she had just thought of Aang all alone and maybe dead, and maybe never waking up, and she just didn't care about anything else. Why didn't he understand that Aang was the Avatar, and the one thing that could save everyone, even Suki?

That terrified her.

Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she bent over Aang's unconscious form. She pulled his torso into her lap, cradling his head in the crook of one arm, and she cried. He was so slack, that was nothing new after all these weeks, but she began to wonder if he really was going to sleep forever, just like Sokka's dark prediction.

Katara cried, and cried, and Aang still didn't wake up, though she desperately wanted him to, even with her tears dripping onto his face.

"Please," she begged.

Nothing happened.

"Please!" she begged again.

It was slowly becoming a fool's hope.



"Where's Sokka?" Katara asked, dry-eyed, as she stepped out of the secret room Toph had made for Aang and looked around, only to see him completely out of sight. Tama had dozed off by the fire, and Toph rolled over on the tatami mats, stretching her arms out. Katara felt a childish desire to do the same: she had been working on healing Aang's extensive wounds for hour after hour, until she hadn't even realized hours had passed.

Toph wiggled her toes and fingers, closing her eyes, and she splayed her palms out against the floor, so close to the cold earth.

"He left for a while," she replied. "He's okay, though, he's out in the yard now. I can feel a gap where the rain isn't hitting the ground... he's just standing there like an idiot. I don't know _what_ he's doing."

Katara crossed the tiny room and slid open the door. She stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her, and neared the edge of the overhang. Sure enough, there was Sokka, standing in the rain. His shoulders were sloped and his arms hanging listlessly at his sides, and his hair was out of its ponytail.

Something about seeing her brother so solemn was crushing. He had been listless ever since they had discovered the news about Suki, and the knowledge that she was alive and in the Fire nation's captivity had done nothing to ease that.

"Sokka," she called. He didn't even look over. She called again, and when he ignored her still, she lifted one hand and walked forward. The rain bent around her, as if it was rolling off a large bubble, and she crossed the yard to stand behind her older brother.

"Hey," she said, softly, bending the rain off of him, under their invisible umbrella. He let out a long sigh, and she continued, "Sokka, come inside. You'll get sick if you stay out here."

"I have to go rescue her, Katara," Sokka said. His voice was hollow and deeply rutted with something like anger. "I can't stay here when she's their prisoner. If she's there..."

She could easily doubt any success. The layer of Fire that had washed over the Earth nation was thick, and it seeped into almost every crack. As she had seen with Haru and his people before, she saw the Earth nation bowing as one, submitting to the hostile rule without fight, nor question. And resistance was stamped out quickly, and there were few who could withstand Fire for long. It scorched the Earth, scorched the Earth's people, and broke any chance of recreation.

The Earth kingdom was dying at the feet of a cruel, merciless master.

"I'm sorry, Sokka," Katara said. "I'm so sorry. I know it's hard to accept." He averted his eyes and she pulled him into a tight hug, and she continued, "First Yue, now Suki..."

"No," he said, quite abruptly, and sternly. She let go and looked up at him questioningly, feeling a deep pang of sympathy for him. He continued, "Suki... Suki isn't dead. Nor is Yue."

Katara hesitated. It occurred to her that she _still _had never really talked to her brother about Yue, because he floated around the subject and clearly avoided it. True, Yue hadn't died, per se, and she supposed that it was easier for him to pretend she had gone, rather than died, but... delusions about it weren't good for him. And while she desperately wanted Suki to be alive, there was nothing she could do.

"Sokka," she said, delicately, "the Fire nation is ruthless. Azula is ruthless... no matter what Tama says, she could be dead."

"Tama said there was a chance," Sokka insisted.

"The Fire nation has never kept prisoners before," Katara replied, reasonably. "Sokka, it could be a trap to lure us out, and we could walk right into it, even if Aang isn't with us. Pretending to be Fire nation won't get us that far, this time... civilians aren't allowed within the military areas. We'll be stopped before we even get near it."

"That's why we have Fire nation clothes," Sokka said, and Katara frowned.

"We're still don't know if it's a trap," she said, pointedly.

Sokka turned to look at her, suddenly, and he said, impatiently, "It couldn't be!"

"When has Azula ever shown mercy?" Katara asked. "She exploited her own brother, she tried to kill her own uncle, she toppled Ba Sing Se through lies and deceit. Somehow, Sokka, I don't think anyone who fought Azula would end up in a cell."

"You heard Tama," Sokka replied sharply, and Katara cut him off.

"Sokka, the Fire nation knows who we are, and they know who Aang travels with. They don't know Aang's been unconscious, we know they've been searching extensively for his body... for all they knew, he vanished into thin air with us. They _want to lure us out,_ and if they find out Aang's alive––_"_

"So what if they do?!" Sokka shot back. "They could still have Suki. We have to go save her, and if you won't come with me, I'll go alone."

"Sokka, don't be stupid," Katara said, "even if you get a uniform, you don't look Fire nation. You're Water tribe. It doesn't matter if I wear red clothing, or Fire nation jewelry, I still don't look like them."

She gestured down at her clothes, the billowy red pants and the single-strapped crop top, all the gold jewelry bright against her dark skin. She continued, seriously, "It'd be impossible. You don't know the layout, you don't know the people, you don't know anything about the place, and you expect that a uniform will get you all the way in!"

Sokka bristled, and his shoulders squared. He rounded on her, taking a step forward and getting right into her face, and he said, "What's wrong with you, Katara? In the past, whenever someone was in trouble, you were the first to go riding into danger. Getting yourself arrested, going right up against the enemy without any hesitation. Why now? Is Aang, who hasn't gone anywhere or done anything in eons, the only reason? Without him here, are you just going to sit here while the Fire nation destroys everything we're fighting to keep?!"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Hadn't she been striving to keep him alive for everything? Keeping Aang alive was the only hope they had, and if he died, there would be nothing. The fire engulfing their entire world would grow hotter and hotter, and she had willingly kept herself trapped inside, to keep Aang safe, even when her heart longed to reach out to the Earth kingdom and help it as best she could.

How could Sokka not understand that?

"That's unfair," Katara protested, "Are you saying I'm a coward for sitting here trying to keep Aang alive?! What am I supposed to do, Sokka, leave Aang here while we go try to win Ba Sing Se back, or stomp out the Fire nation?"

"The end of the summer is coming anyway, Katara, whether Aang's here or not! You've changed because he's gone, and yes, you are acting like a coward! What happened to protecting people? What, do you think we can't do it without Aang?!"

He gave a hard and infuriated breath, and he shouted, "You just keep turning your back on people, that's what you're doing!"

Katara took this like a smack in the face. Her mouth dropped open and her eyebrows furrowed in shock and anger, and she didn't back down. Balling her hands into fists, she shouted at him, "I will NEVER turn my back on people who need me!"

Why couldn't he understand that Aang needed her just as much as everyone else? How she couldn't leave? How not just Aang, but the Avatar, needed her? Katara was doing this under the impression that he, the Avatar, would awaken in time for them to go to the Fire nation and overthrow the Fire lord.

She didn't want to consider what would happen if he didn't.

"Then why are you waiting here?!" Sokka demanded.

"Aang needs us!"

Her eyes were full of angry tears, she could feel them stinging and clouding her vision.

"Aang is gone, Katara," he snapped, "it doesn't matter how long you sit over his bedside crying, he's going to stay unconscious until he wakes up. Stay if you want, I'm going to help Suki, I'm leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow. And if you have problems with that, _fine._"

Katara didn't reply, she just let out a long breath and stopped keeping the rain off them. It splashed down on their heads and she stared him down angrily.

"Fine," she said, turning on her heel and marching towards the house. "Go, then!"

Sokka didn't stop her, and he stomped his foot against the ground in anger, and after a moment, stormed into the house to get his things ready. Katara pointedly ignored him.



Sokka pulled on the Fire nation armor he had 'liberated' from a soldier in the village earlier in the week with some sort of solemn duty.

"Are you alright?" Toph asked him, "I can feel your heart beating without even being close to you. It's practically shaking you."

Sokka was fumbling with the clasps on the shoulder pauldrons, to hold them to the chest-piece. He said, defensively, "I'm only putting on this uniform to save Suki. I feel horrible wearing it anyway."

"We do what we have to," Toph said, noncommittally. "Don't worry about it. I hate it too."

She was wearing a pair of red robes they had found. They were a bit small for her, so they were tighter than what she was used to, so she had complained about it quite some bit. Katara was far more comfortable, even if she found the short shirt awkward to wear in public.

(That was the drawback of growing up in a society where a simple long-sleeved shirt was scandalously naked, if only because you could freeze to death pretty fast that way.)

Sokka buckled up the belt on the fauld and moved his legs about, experimentally. He rolled his shoulders and reached towards the ceiling, and then touched his toes. When he was completely satisfied – not exactly impressed, but at least satisfied – with his mobility, he joined Tama on the porch. Toph followed. Tama tucked her fans into the sash of the Fire nation clothes she was wearing. They didn't say a word to each other, though Sokka felt the urge to apologize again for his behaviour.

"Sokka," Katara said, as he stepped off the porch.

He turned and looked at her, and he glanced up and down her. He wasn't sure if she was still wearing the Fire nation clothes because it was laundry day soon or if she intended on coming with them, but then she said, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I'm coming with you."

He smiled at her, and said, "I'm sorry, too. Come on, let's go."

She smiled, and so did Tama. Toph sort of scoffed, but she smiled too, and blew her bangs up. Sokka pulled Katara into a quick hug, and off they went.

The four of them set off at dawn, figuring that by time night fell, they'd be at the prison, and prepared to launch their invasion. The entire journey went by rather quickly, as all of them were far more focused on walking than on talking, though they had the odd argument over attack plans. Sokka couldn't really make out an invasion technique until he saw the place for himself, and Tama had never been inside, so she hadn't exactly been able to lay it out for him beforehand.

Their journey went relatively unnoticed, too – they passed a small brigade of Fire nation soldiers on the road, and later, a caravan of Fire nation settlers. From the caravan, they got an interesting tidbit of news – Ba Sing Se had been crushed entirely, and the outer walls were being stripped down with the help of captured Earthbenders, despite a resistance from many of the surviving civilians. The resistance, the man leading the caravan explained, had been stomped out, "thank the Fire Lord", and that maybe now the world would be "more civilized".

It was very, very hard for all of them to resist beating this man black and blue, and in the end, when the caravan started moving and all attention was turned back to the road, Sokka discreetly pulled a bolt from one of their wagon's wheels as he walked past.

"That won't hurt them, will it?" Katara asked, and Sokka shook his head.

"The wheel'll fall off when they run over uneven ground. They'll be fine, it'll just make more work for them."

Katara giggled, and Sokka put on a smile, just for her sake, before they both returned to the stony determination and silence.



When they reached the building and slipped into the compound, Sokka could feel his heart pounding with every step.

The guards didn't seem to find them out of sorts -- Sokka dismissed the man at the door, an obviously stupid fellow tired from standing out in the sun, by saying he was escorting these three daughters of the General, and "how dare you stand in our way?" and they were in. They kept out of sight of guards as much as they could, anyway, because some looked at them with suspicion.

There was an odd sort of thing in his heart that twisted his conscience like a closed fist, with every step he took. It wasn't one that told him he was doing something immoral or wrong, but rather, that he wasn't doing enough. He was wandering the halls of a Fire nation building, a prison, and with every step, he could imagine who had walked these miserable halls, but he couldn't attack.

The Fire nation was evil, purest evil, and he was sneaking amongst them, shamefully wearing their clothes, instead of getting rid of them. Who could tell what each of them would do? As he passed soundlessly by two guards, Toph, Katara and Tama trailing behind him just as quietly, he wondered who would be effected by those guards. He was nearly by them when he considered that maybe someone's mother would die because of them. He was five steps away when he considered the someone's girlfriend could be taken because of them. And Sokka, quiet and calm under his helmet, was ten steps away when he considered that he could stop that merely by killing them, and he stopped dead in his tracks to look over his shoulder at them.

Katara nearly bumped into him and she said, "Keep going."

Sokka glanced at her, and back to the soldiers, and started to reach for the handle of the broadsword at his hip, but Katara grabbed his wrist with ice-cold grip. He let go of the hilt as if burned, his skin freezing.

"Don't," she hissed, and Sokka reluctantly kept going, but he eventually lifted his eyes and turned them on the path ahead with his determination.

It was hard to leave the bastards alive, especially with all the things they'd done, but he was no Fire nation native. He wasn't going to do that to himself, and he wasn't going to sink to their pathetic level. Not when Suki needed him, not when his team needed him. Sokka was ready for this.



They wandered about for an hour, growing more worried by the moment.

"You there," a voice said, and Sokka turned his head. There were three men behind them, coming up fast, and they were firebenders, by the look of their armor. He glanced at them calmly.

"Yes?" he replied. The nearest took the face piece from his armour and walked closer, and stopped within a few feet of him. Sokka stepped up, too, straightening his shoulders.

"What are these kids doing here?"

Sokka said, as seriously as he could, "They're guests from the colonies. Their father works here."

There wasn't anywhere he could go with this, and both he and the guards knew it, especially as he was asked "Who is their father?" in a sneer. Sokka glanced up at the speaking soldier, who was first and foremost their enemy, and there was a moment of panic between every one of them.

"Uh," Sokka trailed, "It's confidential."

"What? Don't make me laugh, newbie," the soldier said, laughing already, and he took a step forward, and grabbed Sokka's shoulder. He said, "Just answer the question."

Sokka didn't know what to say, or lie about, seeing as they were close to being caught anyway. He sized up the firebenders, and found they weren't too much bigger than he was, not to mention the fact that he had Katara, Tama and Toph on his side.

He said, "It's you!" just for the sake of it, and then delivered a hook to the bender in the temple. He went down like a sack of potatoes, right out of it, and that was when everything swung into unknown territory. Everyone was still for a moment, and then the real battle started.

The two remaining firebenders came to them with the intention of battle. Instantly, Katara was at the helm of the group, and Tama was opening her fans with a metallic ring. Sokka grabbed his club and boomerang and he brought them up for battle, and in the back, Toph adopted the horse stance.

The battle was not swift, like the four expected, even against only two of them. While the element of surprise had ensured them the first, the other two were well alert and prepared to go out of the way. Katara did her best, the water evaporating into great bursts of steam, and she cooled and compressed it again and again, back into water. Tama deflected fire with great sweeps of her fans, the air pushing the fire back, but she could not get close without getting burned. Sokka knocked the two a few good ones when he caught their helmets with his boomerang, but otherwise, his inability to get close due to the flames stopped him from causing any serious damage.

Besides, it was hard to fight when you could barely see what you were doing. The firebenders had created a thick wall of fire that obscured their vision and rose the heat until Sokka could feel the sweat gluing the fabric of his shirt to his skin, clinging with every motion. Sweat poured down Katara's forehead and she bended it off more by accident than intention, and Toph was flinging what little stone she could find up in waves. Through the wall of fire, she was the only one that could "see", but with so little to work with, it was of little use.

When fire lashed out and Katara fell back with a shout, Sokka couldn't blindly fight anymore. He lashed out, fast and violent. No one brought down his sister.

Sokka took the slightest of pauses, taking the time to allow his heart one last cowardly beat, and then he surged forward, fast as he could. He let out a war cry as he charged towards the wall of fire, and he felt the heat even as he drew close, let alone when he plunged through. He heard Katara scream, but Sokka ploughed right on through, feeling his skin stinging with the heat.

But once he was through, it vanished. It left him faintly warmed, and he kept going, lifting his club to strike the benders. The first went down like a sack of potatoes, and the second followed two seconds later, landing on top of his partner. Sokka breathed over them, for a second, and the fire shriveled up into nothing, clouds of smoke rising on the air.

He looked down at the body, glanced back at where the wall was, and then back to the benders' bodies. Having realized what triumph he had done, he let out a whoop of victory and excitement, and threw his club in the air. He caught it, spun the handle in his palm, and shouldered it, feeling incredibly cool.

"Yeah!" Sokka cheered, "Sokka, one, Firebenders, nothing!"

Katara ran up behind him and grabbed him by the shoulder, and she slugged him in the ribs, though she didn't put much force into it. He let out a grunt of pain and she shouted right in his face, "Don't you ever take a risk like that again, Sokka!"

"Katara, I just went through a wall of fire, could you please not beat me to death?" Sokka replied, clutching his ribs for a second, and then he looked to the bodies again. He pulled away from Katara and knelt by the bodies, and after a moment of hesitation, he dug around in their pockets. His fingers closed around something small, metal, and jingly.

From a pocket he pulled a small ring of keys. He let out another cheer.

"Keys! Keys, Katara, keys," he said, and she let out a relieved sigh, though her tension didn't leave. Toph came towards them, and Tama smiled. Sokka said, "We can get anywhere."

"No," Toph replied, "You can get anywhere they let us go."

"Same thing," Sokka replied, with a grin. He approached the nearest door and turned the handle. When it opened, he moved to the next, seemingly looking for one that was locked. When he found one that wouldn't budge, he started working on each individual key, until he managed to unlock it.

When the door was unlocked, Katara folded her arms and couldn't resist a smile as Sokka kicked it open anyway. The thing swung open wildly, hitting the doorstop and soundlessly bouncing off. Sokka grinned and gestured they follow.

"What's inside?" Katara asked.

Sokka fell silent, and he looked at her over his shoulder, with a bright, "There are thousands of confiscated things here."

Sure enough, it was a storeroom, of sorts, mostly clothes and assorted foreign weapons. Sokka picked up a Water tribe spear and admired it for a half-second, and decided to keep it, and Katara found a lot of water satchels, most with bits of water inside. She took an extra one and shouldered it, and harvested all the random bits of water remaining in them all.

"Need anything?" Sokka asked Toph, as he grabbed a pair of gloves that weren't worn through in the palms.

"No," Toph said, "I still don't get your obsession with material objects, all of you."

Tama said, as she lashed the scabbard of a new katana to her back, "I guess we're good, then? Let's keep going, before someone finds us."

Katara nodded, but Sokka let out a gasp. His eyes had fallen on a Water tribe warrior's tunic, and he let out a strangled sound of surprise. Rushing over and seizing it by the shoulders, he admired it for a second. The fur trim, made from wolf fur, was soft and undamaged, and the top, the skin of a wolf's head, ears and all, made an excellent hood. Grinning wildly, Sokka began fumbling with the buckles on his armor. Katara said, bossily, "Sokka! Don't worry about that, let's just go."

Sokka stopped, glanced at her, and then stopped fumbling with the buckles. Katara didn't complain when he pulled on the tunic over his armour. It fit a bit tightly, but he didn't mind – without the Fire nation armour it'd be fine. He pulled the hood up and it was comfortable. He followed the others out of the room, spear in one hand, and club in the other.

"Wouldn't it be wiser to look like a Fire nation soldier, here?" Katara said, concerned.

"No," Sokka said, "I want them to know who, exactly, is getting revenge, here."

Katara didn't reply, and settled on just running. Sokka shrugged it off and broke into a run, too, falling into step beside Tama and keeping his attention behind them, in case they were ambushed. They weren't, and other than a lone guard in an alcove that was dispatched in mere seconds, things were quiet.

It was eerie, but no one could complain about the lack of resistance. The four teenagers kept going, and Sokka eventually moved up to take the lead from Katara. He had a better idea of where to go, and through all the winding paths, he could get an idea of where they were going, not to mention make a mental map of every direction they turned.

They came to a part where the halls disappeared and were replaced by catwalks, solid steel and suspended over a large drop. When they moved onto them, Toph frowned, obviously feeling the thinness of the walk between her bare feet and the open air. But Sokka was much relieved, for through the dark, he could see that down below, there were spirals and spirals of pathways, all lined with cells.

"All of this was carved by earthbenders, there's no way the Fire nation could create a fortress here that didn't have earth in it," Toph said, suspiciously. "I can't feel it… is there stone here?"

"The walls," Sokka said, "and all the cells… they seem to be made of rock, I can see it, but they have steel bars and doors on the fronts."

"Then they can't be keeping earthbenders as prisoners," Toph said, suspicious still. Tama looked oddly relieved, simply because no one they were here for was an earthbender. Katara shook her head.

"They can be," she said, "they just have to restrict their legs and arms so they can't do the motions."

"Right," Toph said.

"Keep your voices down," Sokka said, and he headed down the path, jumping down the entire set of small stairs rather than walking them. He turned to help Toph, but she seemed to recognize their presence after she had stumbled down the first. The four continued, picking up the pace. The pathways forked and moved into staircases and ramps down to the next level, and Sokka examined them all before taking a route. He could see a ramp down to the stone levels not too far away; he just had to get to that ramp.

"Pick up the pace, Sokka," Tama nagged, "We don't have all day, we don't want to be here when they all get back."

"I know," Sokka said, "stop nagging me. I'm working on it." He saw it. He let out a triumphant, "A-ha! That way!"

On they went, running as fast as they could without tripping, and Sokka ended up taking Toph's hand and running with her, simply because she was having trouble on the metal catwalks with all the vibrations. She shook his hand off almost immediately, seemingly out of indignation at being helped, and he didn't try to take it again. Her face was going red, though he was pretty sure that was from all the exercise they were getting.

"Alright," Sokka said, as they hit the first level. He ran to the nearest cell and he grabbed the door by the barred window, and he lifted himself up to look in. He saw nothing, but he said, loudly, "Anyone in here? Suki?"

No reply. He moved onto the next door, but Katara said, seriously, "Open it anyway. If there's someone in there, we shouldn't leave him or her behind."

"There are at least two hundred cells here," Sokka replied, just as serious, "You don't seriously think—"

"We're going to save as many people as we can," Katara said, firmly. Sokka softened and almost smiled, and he fished the keys out of his pocket and unlocked it. Luckily, the keys worked, and the door swung open.

"Think they all use the same key?" Tama asked, concerned, and Toph shrugged.

"Probably, why have two hundred different keys? Either way, I'm a metalbender, I can open the cells up from the side OR the front."

"Actually, that's a better idea," Katara said, "If we go in from the side, we don't have to make it look like any of the cells were broken out of. We can just work along like a chain, going from cell to cell."

"Sounds like a good idea," Toph said, and she grinned wickedly and rubbed her hands together. "Where would you numbskulls be without me, huh?"

"Unlocking individual cells one by one, which takes a lot less effort, but okay," Sokka replied, and he urged, "Let's do it, then."

"Alright," Toph said. She cracked her knuckles and pushed past Sokka to go into the cell, and she promptly stepped over something, something that was decidedly human. She said, "There's someone in here, but I think he's dead."

Katara went over to a rack on the wall and picked up a torch. She lit it from one of the flaming lanterns, and handed it to Sokka, who stepped into the cell. His heart sank when he saw it, though he was incredibly relieved it wasn't Suki, in the end.

At first glance, he looked like he was just sleeping, but Sokka could see the way the skin was sagging, the way the face was hanging. He'd never seen a dead body so close, not since his mother, and it made a knot appear in his throat, heavy and unmovable. The man was young, perhaps in his early twenties, and a mess of dark brown hair fell around his neck in tatters. His clothes were scum-covered. There was a ratmouse perched on his knee, chewing on something, and Sokka cringed when he realized it was a finger.

He covered his mouth and gagged. Katara knelt down by the body, looking decidedly upset, and she let out a sad breath. Tama fidgeted in place, looking away.

"He's dead," Katara replied, and Sokka commended her bravery for touching his pallid skin for a pulse. It was rather disgusting.

"Okay," Toph said, and she paused and turned towards the wall. She placed her palms down again the flat of the wall, brought them back and then moved to shove, but Katara grabbed her by the shoulder. Annoyed, Toph snapped, "What?"

"What if there's someone there and you crush him or her?" she asked, obviously rethinking her plan. Toph hesitated.

"I can pull the wall this way, then. Get out of the way," she ordered, and Katara stepped off to the side, pulling Sokka with her. Tama waited in the doorway. Toph lifted her arms, and turned her hands so that the backs of them were against the wall. After a second, she gave a tremendous pulling motion, and all the rock was seized and hurtled back, conveniently landing around her feet in two solid masses.

Toph grinned triumphantly and stepped into the cell. She took inventory before Katara could even follow. She said, "Two men. Both are alive."

Katara scrambled even faster, and Sokka said, "Alright, next wall, take it down." He paused, and then he said, "Let's just unlock them all. Really, it's faster, rather than fumbling around with all this rock."

"One second," Toph said, "geez, someone's impatient."

Tama and Katara unlocked the men and helped them up, exchanging a few brief words as they got them out of the way. Then, rapidly, Toph said, "Someone's coming. Get back."

They all scrambled to the back of the cell, and Katara doused the flame of the torch against the wall. Sokka felt himself crammed with Toph nestled against his chest, and one of the men against his back, and he felt Toph cling to his wrist. All six of them watched the Fire nation soldier walk past the cells, not really bothering to stop and check any of them. Sokka was thankful that the cells were dark, for the first time.

After about ten minutes, Toph whispered, "He's back on the ramps. Let's go."

"Hey, I'm the leader, stop giving me orders," Sokka said. He glanced at the men and asked, "Know anything about a group of girls here?"

One of the men didn't seem able to speak, but the other did, in an ashy old voice. He said, "Three of them, otherwise, all women have been sent elsewhere. They were young, your age, maybe a bit older. Guards yap about them a lot."

Sokka grinned, clapped the man on the shoulder so hard the man nearly shook – he seemed frail as it was – and said, "That's what I like to hear. Any idea where?"

"I've been in this cell for weeks," the man grumbled, "I don't know."

"Right, sorry," Sokka apologized.

"Are YOU going to keep yapping or can we continue?" Toph said, bossily, and Sokka scooted out of the way so she could continue their wall-crushing mission.

They progressed slowly, as quietly as possible. Many cells brought another man or two to their growing group, until they were leading a couple dozen men. Some cells had people too weak to move, and some of the younger, stronger men they saved offered to carry those too old or weak to keep up. They moved through the cells rapidly, and word started spreading that they were coming, so people were waiting for them to come.

With more earthbenders, it was faster. Toph wasn't exactly seamless when working with people other than Aang, as she had trained with him long enough to work in tandem with him, but they got along fine.

When one wall came down, they found a girl. In the dim lights, with only a torch or two they had picked up from outside the cells along the way, Sokka had thought it was Suki, and he had moved forward to hug her, but the girl got to Tama first.

"Jia-Li!" Tama said, enthusiastically, and the girl broke down crying on her shoulder. Sokka almost cringed. Tama said, "Are you alright?!"

"No," Jia-Li said, "Thank everything, you're alright. When you didn't come in with us, we thought Azula had killed you off in the fight. Where's Yin?"

"Yin's dead," Tama said, "where are Suki and Qiao?"

There was a pause, a very pregnant pause, and Sokka held the torch closer, to see them better. He cringed when he saw Jia-Li in close relief – she was rather battered, and worst of all, she had a long red burn across her jaw.

"I haven't seen either since we were brought in, but one of them is dead," Jia-Li said, frustrated through tears, "I don't know, the guards don't tell me anything, but one of them died and they wouldn't tell me which."

Sokka froze, and Katara tried to catch his eye, her hand drifting to his shoulder. He refused to make eye contact, and he looked at the floor, stubbornly, and then closed his eyes tightly. After a moment of worry, he lifted his head and said, "Suki's here. Suki is _here._ And we're going to save her._ Come on_."

He took the keys from Katara and reached around the bars to unlock the cell they were in, to get out, rather than walking all the way around the loop to the first one. Katara followed, quietly shouting "Sokka! SOKKA!" after him. He ignored her, and went to the bars of the next.

"Keep moving," he told her, "I'm going to go ahead and see if I can find her."

He took off down the rows, calling Suki's name between the bars, and Toph climbed out of the cell. She said, "Katara, you keep moving with those guys, and I'll help Sokka find Suki."

Sokka glanced at Toph, almost surprised, and then he managed a smile. He said, "Thanks, Toph."

"Well, otherwise, you might run right by her," Toph said. "Check this one, I can feel the person moving."

"Right."

It was no luck, anyway. Katara's team was moving just as fast as they were, and men were being released at the same speed as Sokka and Toph could determine that Suki wasn't in the cell ahead of them. Then they reached the last one, Sokka clung to the bars and said, hopefully, "Suki?! Suki, are you there?!"

There was no reply, and Toph said, "This one's empty."

Sokka clung to the bars anyway, and he said, desperately, "Are you sure?"

Toph paused, and then said, "I'm sure."

"Oh," was Sokka's dejected reply, and he let go of the bars slowly, stepping back. He didn't have much time to mourn over this – when he turned, he saw there was a soldier up on the catwalks, and he was struck by inspiration.

The man opened his mouth to shout, but Sokka lunged and grabbed him by the collar, hurtling him down to the ground like a sack of potatoes, putting his hand over the man's mouth hard.

"Don't struggle," Sokka said, and the soldier held still only when Sokka grabbed his boomerang and pressed its metal edge to the man's neck. When he had his demands met, Sokka demanded, "Are there any other prisoners than the ones you have here?"

The soldier couldn't have been a day older than seventeen. He shook under Sokka's grip, and he said, "Yes."

"Where?" Sokka demanded.

"Down that ramp and to the left," the boy said, voice cracking, "Please don't kill me."

"Who's there?" Sokka pressured.

"People held for questioning," the boy said, and he was almost in tears, out of sheer terror. "Please don't kill me, my dad made me join the military, but I didn't want to…"

"Okay," Sokka said. He climbed off the guy but held him still, anyway, and he said, "Toph?"

"Gotcha," Toph said, and Sokka moved. Toph brought her hands straight up, and a rock prison surrounded the boy, top and all. She let out a triumphant laugh, and Sokka offered her a smile she couldn't see.

"Great, now let's keep going," Sokka said, and Katara, the two Kyoshi warriors, and the men had joined them. He filled Katara in, and took off as he went. She followed.

The hall was fairly short, with only a dozen or so doors, and the one at the end was open, leading towards what looked like more halls. Each door was metal and had a small flap at the bottom, and a tiny barred window at the top. Sokka immediately started calling Suki's name, though Katara hissed at him to be quiet.

"There's someone in the first one, Katara," Toph said, suddenly, stopping. Her hand was against the floor, her jaw clenched. "I can only barely tell."

She straightened up and Katara moved to the door immediately. She looked up at its length for a moment, and she said, "This one? Alright."

Toph said, "Er, whichever is to my left."

"Yeah," Katara said, and then jostled the lock. The metal rattled, and she held her hand out to Sokka. "The key?"

He had continued to walk, and he turned back and dropped it into her hand, impatiently, and then went back to going to doors and asking for Suki. Katara unlocked it and pocketed the key, pushing open the door.

"Don't be long, we have to get to them..."

But Katara was frozen in the doorway. Sokka watched her reaction to whatever was in the darkness with a growing sense of fear, because Katara's head was turning to him slowly. The look in her eyes was wide, fear-struck, and she opened her mouth. No sound came out, and then she rushed into the cell, carrying her torch.

That was the tell-tale sign of danger and serious shock, and Sokka followed her without a second thought. What he saw shattered his calmness.

There was a girl, barely recognizable as his Suki.

Her body was ragged in that beaten sort of way, and she was so caked in dirt that her skintone seemed purple-blue, though that may have been the heavy bruising. He could see the jutting angle of her hip bones, sharp ridges that were her ribs and knees. Overall, her body just seemed twisted in some way, and she was almost completely naked, other than a scrapped-up kimono top that hung from her shoulders like a loose drape. Maybe, once upon a time, the shirt had been white, but now it was covered in grime and dried blood, and it hung off her rail-like shoulders like a baggy, tattered sheet. She wore no pants, and there was a nasty-looking manacle clamped around one of her ankles and one of her wrists, chained at a short length to the wall.

Sokka moved faster than he ever had in his life, and as he neared her, she lifted her head and stared at him with wide eyes. He wasn't sure whether her knees gave out or if she dropped to the floor in an attempt to get away from him, but she pulled her knees up to her chest and pressed against the wall, and he stared down at her, stunned.

"Suki?"

She let out a terrified sort of noise, and he knelt down.

"Who are you?" she asked, under her breath, and Sokka froze, confused and horrified.

"Your hood," Katara said, and Sokka ripped the wolf-hood down off his head faster than he ever had in his life. Suki's eyes focused on him, on his face, and she let out an odd, surprised breath, and he locked his arms around her.

She shuddered in his arms.

He mumbled her name against the top of her head pointlessly, just for the security of confirming to himself that it was her. Her hair was unkempt and disheveled, and her skin was clammy against his. His arms wrapped around her tighter, and she remained stiff as a board in his grip. There was no relaxation, no acknowledgment, just a continued stare of shock and mixed terror.

That's when he realized she wasn't entirely Suki –– she was a shell of Suki.

"I hate them," he said, quietly, fingers raking through her hair, gently, pushing it from her eyes. Her fingers, wrapped around the collar of his shirt, tightened. "I hate them more than I can explain."

He felt the bitter sting of tears in his eyes, and he heard Katara breathe in sharply, the rattle of her voice struck with horror. But Sokka, for the most part, ignored his sister, and the way she was covering her mouth with her hand, and how she seemed so _stunned_ that the Fire Nation would go this far. Katara even voiced it.

Why did she ever think they_ wouldn't?_

Obviously, they were always this bad. Obviously, hate was a thing ingrained in them from birth, perhaps even from before birth. A hundred years had burnt up all their compassion and humanity, left them with nothing but ashes and a glowing sense of arrogance and sadism. Of course the Fire nation would do this.

They slaughtered his mother, they ripped his father from home, they stole his first love, they hurt his friends and family on a daily basis. They had taken his powerful, strong girlfriend and turned her into an empty shell. Why would this stun anyone?

"They're monsters," Sokka replied loudly, and his voice cracked. He screwed up his face to keep it straight, to keep himself from breaking down, but Suki was clutching his shirt as if she wanted to keep him away, not hold him close. Suki. His _Suki. Afraid_ of him like he was the one who had done this.

A few hot tears slipped and he shifted angrily, pulling her with him. He said, furiously, "I'm going to kill everyone in this damn place."

"Sokka," Katara said, kneeling down with them and pulling out the key, taking the manacles off of Suki with a well-practiced speed. "We have to go, we can't just kill everyone. We _have to go now_."

The urgency in her voice didn't touch him at all. Instead, he just braced himself against the wall and held her tighter, and Katara moved to start down the hall, but she stopped and looked back, desperately.

"Sokka, please," she said.

He clenched his jaw and heaved Suki up with him. Although she seemed to be conscious enough to react, her feet did nothing for her, and she merely fell against him. If she had been content to cling to him, to cry against his chest, and let him save her, it might have been easy, but instead, she let out a strangled half-cry, and threw herself away from him. He only barely caught her, and her arms flailed to escape.

The only way to prevent either of them harm was to pin her arms to her sides and hug her to his chest, nose against her forehead, and wait for her to calm. It took a moment, and she did, but her breathing remained terrified and racked, like a cornered animal.

"SOKKA," Katara shouted, waking him from his distraction. There was a rush of fire past the door, and he heard the whip of a stream of water, and Toph shouting. "SOKKA, come ON!"

"Suki," Sokka said, carefully, "you have to let me take you, alright? It's the only way. Come on. I can save you, everything's just going to be fine. I'm Sokka, right?"

He held up, carefully, her knees bent awkwardly and her weight up against him, her head lolling back on her neck, as if she was too weak to support it. Her eyes fluttered once, twice, and then the tears poured faster than his own.

"_Sokka_," she breathed, and her legs gave out entirely. Sokka had to struggle to keep her up so suddenly. In the background, there were more whips, more flames, and hurried screams. Suki's lips, bruised and parched, moved soundlessly.

"Yeah, I'm going to save you," was his determined reply, hard and resolute. "I'm going to put you over my shoulders, okay? Then we're going to get out of here, okay?"

"Sokka!" Katara called urgently, "We need your help, here!"

He hesitated on picking Suki up, and stood up to go help, furious. Suki's eyes widened, and he hastened himself. He didn't even pull out a weapon as he moved past Toph and right by Katara, who was fending off a soldier with whips of water and ice.

Sokka seemed to have abandoned all use for weapons. In fact, when they came at him, he stepped up to the plate without drawing his sword, prepared to give them whatever they offered bare-handed. He lifted his fists, anger clear on his face, and they rushed him.

The first came quickly, drawing his arm back to slash wide into Sokka's chest, but Sokka was faster. While his initial reaction was to hold up his hands and save his body from the attack, his warrior instincts stepped into gear rapidly. He lifted one foot, and kicked the guy in the gut before the soldier could bring his sword forward.

And then Sokka pivoted to take on the next. This one had a spear, long but with a relatively short blade, and he was nearly on Sokka when Sokka twisted to sock him in the face with his left fist. He was completely detached from the way Katara let out a surprised gasp, and plowed on.

The third went down rapidly, with a simple kick to the chest, and when he didn't quite fall but rather stumble right in Sokka's direction, Sokka grabbed him by the neck and shoved him away. As he was moving forward still, the man ended up on the ground behind him.

The fourth was a bit harder. Sokka had to dodge a few nasty swoops of a blade, and even then, he almost lost a couple fingers. He jumped back each time, and then would lunge forward, only to be forced back again. But the second he had an opening, he took it: he punched the man in the face, and it stunned his opponent long enough for Sokka to shake off the blow, himself. He'd probably split a knuckle or two in the process.

It didn't matter, though, because that guy went down anyway.

Sokka's anger and confidence awakened a lot of improvisation and impulse-based skill, and as he took on the fifth, he wasn't even wary of the fact that this one had firebending, too. Sokka faced that man down like he was invincible, and he delivered a smashing punch and a kick to the man, sending the enemy backwards before a single lick of fire could touch him.

Katara shouted something along the lines of, "Sokka, you're a reckless idiot!"

Sokka just caught his breath, used his foot to roll a body out of his way, and he shrugged. For an instant, he felt bad, because Katara looked afraid, but he'd done it to save them.

Didn't mean he had to be so reckless, but he had done it nonetheless.

"No congratulations?" he said, as he went back over to her and knelt with her and Suki.

"Well... yeah," Katara said, "Nice one, Sokka."

Sokka didn't really know what to do, but Katara was good at putting together a plan when his head was too constrained with emotion to think. He paused, long and hard, face against the top of Suki's head, and Katara said, "We're going to catch up with the others. Sokka, I'll take the front, and Toph can take the back, you just take care of Suki…"

"Then let's go," Toph said, impatiently, and Sokka gathered Suki up into his arms. She didn't seem to be able to resist as he pulled Katara's cloak around her, and he picked her up.

"You came," Suki mumbled, and Sokka nodded, and pressed a kiss to her nose, because he was afraid of touching the burn on her forehead. She didn't react at all to that, and Sokka didn't care. He had to run.

Off they went, Katara taking out sweeps of firebenders with her water before they could even let off the slightest flare, and Toph trapping their feet with metal-bending once they were on the winding stairs. Up and up they went, Sokka struggling to keep up a fast pace with Suki in his arms. It was difficult, to accommodate her weight, but she was alarmingly light compared to what your average teenager should have been.

So they ran, and ran, and fought when they could afford the time. Toph worked wonders, bending walls together to block passages. They met up with the group of prisoners and Tama when they were going down the long hall where Sokka had burst through the wall of fire, as Tama's group was moving remarkably slow, as it was bigger.

And at the same time, the call started up: "Prison break, code black." It was shouted down the halls, relayed between soldiers, and it flew over their heads as they ran towards a couple firebenders blocking their exit into the main hall. They were so close.

It was all too easy to figure out what code black was when the lights went out.

"What do we do?" Tama shouted to Sokka, over the wails of alarm, and he let out one long breath.

"Keep going. If you see a light, kill it, it's a fire bender," he said. And it was true within seconds – lights appeared out of a doorway, and with great haste, a few of the earthbenders, useless without their element, beat the men out.

They broke down the door blocking their way into the entrance hall, and Sokka, Katara and Toph moved into the lead of the group, Tama shortly behind them, followed by the prisoners. They ran. They ran like it was there only call to freedom, and Toph bent the great metal doors to the outside open with a violent wave of her hands. Sokka could see the moonlight filtering in, the only light in the darkness, the thing that would safely guide them out. What would guide Suki out.

And the instant that Sokka carried Suki over that threshold, that was exactly when the scream of "CODE AZULA" went up, and Suki said something frantic about execution orders. Katara looked behind them. Sokka wasn't sure what she saw, to prompt her to stop, but she shouted, "We have to save them!" and turned around to run back towards the group.

Sokka could barely see Suki in his arms, let alone see the line of firebenders. He couldn't chase his sister, but he whirled in her direction to scream, "Katara, no!"

He saw it before she did, and seconds later, all he could see was Katara's silhouette up against the biggest bonfire he had ever seen in his life. Screams erupted from the group of prisoners behind them, consumed by flame, and it was sick on the air and loud.

Sokka could do nothing but seize Katara's arm as the flames reached clear up to the ceiling and billowed towards them, intending on swallowing them up, too, and he kept his other arm around Suki like an iron clamp. Suki's arms swung like a rag doll's, and she barely reacted to the flames surging up behind them.

Sokka just choked, "We have to run!" He was terrified, angry, and upset all at once. Katara had tears streaming down her face, Toph was shouting at them to run, it was too late, and finally, as the firebenders started moving forwards, all they could do was run, Toph making great walls of metal and earth behind them, stopping any pursuers dead in their tracks, giving them ample time to get far, far away.

Suki had slipped out of consciousness at some point, and Katara helped maneuver her onto Sokka's back, so she'd be easier to carry. Sokka, in some weird way, was glad she wasn't awake: the surviving members of the Kyoshi warriors had died trying to escape, and she was the one who had to keep living.



"Those poor people," Katara said, worried. She kept looking over her shoulder, as if they could have followed them for hours and hours, and only just now caught up. Sokka put up with her concerns with ebbing patience, and though he couldn't erase the giddiness in the back of his mind at having Suki back alive, his frustration still took first priority in his head. He was exhausted. He was angry at the Fire nation. Suki's breath was shallow on his neck, and Toph kept making exasperated noises.

"They're dead, Katara," Sokka said, sharply. Tama weighed on his subconscious horribly, and he didn't even want to think of breaking that news to Suki. "Suki's alive and the living matter most."

Suki was slumped over so her arms bumped against his chest listlessly. She didn't even seem to react to him, or anything he said.

Katara let out a funny sigh and she said, "Aang's alive, too."

Sokka almost stopped when she said it, partially out of worry over her tone and partially because Suki was sliding down his back, and it was rather hard to walk with a semi-conscious girl drooping off one's behind.

"How much longer will it be?" Toph asked.

"We're almost near that place with the three big rocks put into an arch," Katara said, vaguely. "Then we'll be home."

Toph made a face and asked, with growing frustration, "So how much longer is that?"

Katara paused for a second, and replied, "An hour."

Toph grumbled a thanks and Sokka picked up his pace to be on speed with the two of them. Suki shifted as he did so, one of her arms drifting across his neck to hold tight for a second, and then falling limp again. He craned his neck to look at her, careful not to bump her face, worried that something had gone wrong, but he could still feel her breath on his neck, and that was fine.

Katara asked how Suki was, and Sokka replied that he didn't know. They paused so Katara could give her a once-over, and the conclusion was that Suki was doing okay, physically, at least. She was out, but she came around eventually.

"Put me down," Suki demanded, suddenly, albeit quietly. When Sokka didn't do so, she said it louder, with more of an urgent tone. Sokka snapped into it and came to a halt, and slowly sank down, unhooking his arm from under her knees. She scrambled off faster than he let go, and almost stumbled. He straightened up as soon as she was standing on her own, and he offered her an arm to hold onto, as she still seemed wobbly. She stood barefoot in the dirt for a moment, breathing hard.

"Are you alright?" he asked, and she kept on breathing as if she had just run a marathon or two. She didn't take his arm, and tried taking a step forward. She only barely did it, her knees bending awkwardly as she did so.

"I'm... fine," she said, breathily, "l just... don't want to ride on your back anymore."

"Alright," Sokka replied, and he slipped his arm behind her back, intending to pick her up bridal-style and continue carrying her. Suki reacted badly, weakly scrambling to get herself out of his grip. He stopped trying after a second, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Just don't carry me," Suki said, bluntly. She used him as a support, but she seemed to be leaning on him more out of necessity than desire to, and Sokka felt vaguely confused and mostly hurt.

"You want to walk?" he said, doubtfully, and she nodded. Her eyes were only half-open, and her lips stayed parted, like she was drowsy and half-asleep. Though, Sokka figured, perhaps she _was_.

"Yes," she replied.

She was still barefoot, as they didn't exactly have a second pair of shoes handy, and wearing nothing but the tattered old kimono top and the red cape bundled around her. She seemed to sink under the weight of the fabric alone, never-mind be able to carry herself at a decent pace.

"... You sure?" Sokka trailed. He glanced down at her feet and said, "You don't have shoes, Suki, and no offense or anything, but you're really not in the condition to be walking for an hour."

Something in her didn't seem keen on arguing, but she could protest anyhow by moving on. She took a few awkward, horribly weakened steps, almost hobbled. Sokka went with her, supporting almost all her weight on his arm. She grimaced with every step, and Sokka felt himself cringe with every single movement she made. Her face would contort into a look of complete discomfort. It was intense, and Katara watched apprehensively.

"Suki?" Katara said, delicately, after a dozen shaky steps.

There was a glazed look in Suki's eyes, and before Sokka could ask, she pitched ground-wards. He caught her under the arms immediately, with his honed reflexes, but her legs twisted oddly and she almost struck the ground anyway. Her head lolled, and Sokka knelt immediately, hauling her weight up into his lap, almost panicking.

"Suki?" he said, loudly, and Katara rushed over, fingers flying to the side of Suki's throat to find a pulse, pulling her water out of her pouch with the other hand. Toph stopped dead in her tracks and turned around, touching her fingertips to the ground.

"She's alive, I can feel her," Toph said, and Katara breathed a sigh of relief.

"I feel it too. She's just unconscious, not dead."

Sokka let out a similar sigh and carefully picked her up again. Katara helped, adjusting the red cape so it covered Suki better. Sokka could feel Suki's ribs through his armor, and that was a very disconcerting thought, but they still had two or so li to go.

Suki meandered in and out of consciousness while Sokka grew more and more exhausted. By time they had reached the hills and were starting up the steep incline, he felt his body starting to give out on him, his footing getting harder and harder to hold. When he had made it up a third of the way, Toph let out an annoyed sigh, having stumbled for the umpteenth time, and she bended them a slab of earth to stand on like an escalator, and it lasted an all of five minutes before she got tired. Katara thanked her for trying, and Toph was far too tired to bother snarking back.

They conquered the hill with zero enthusiasm, but by the time they reached the top, it was really pointless to feel tired. Instead, Sokka adopted a numbness he characterized as a complete lack of sleep, and Katara said something about exhaustion reaching a threshold.

But no matter how much he wanted to sleep, Sokka knew he wouldn't be. He did, after all, have Suki to look after, and he would gladly take her over sleep any moment.

Katara opened the door for him, and Sokka strode in without waiting for her to light the lamps. In his haste to get to the futons, he nearly tripped over Momo, who had scampered to the door to see them, but thankfully, he kept a firm hold on his precious load and managed to keep his balance.

"Careful," Katara hissed at him, anyway, and Toph stepped over Momo neatly, with a calm, "Klutz." Sokka barely heard her. They had made it. They were home and safe. Suki would be safe. They'd all be safe. Everything was fine.

The lamp flares went up, flashing brightly before dimming to the usual brightness. Sokka waited as Katara unfolded one of the futons and then he set Suki down with all the tenderness he could manage. As her head fell back into the pillow, her eyes opened, but just barely. Her breathing was shallow, still, but she was very much alive. Sokka couldn't help but smile down at her, as he knelt by her side.

"Sokka," she said in a parched voice, and Sokka placed his hand over hers. Her fingers twitched, under his, and then relaxed, and she turned her head slightly, her eyes opening wide.

"Hey, Suki," he said, smiling still, so full of relief, "How are you?"

It was a stupid question, he knew, and she confirmed it by informing him of it. He only shook his head and laughed, awkwardly, and couldn't bear to break eye-contact with her. There was a moment of undignified pity, for both her and himself, in that look. He hadn't protected Suki, and she had almost died, even when he knew she could take care of herself. She was battered more than he could have ever imagined, and there were places on her skin that were bruises that were livid red, which Sokka recognized as recent. Some were yellowing, old, and some of the wounds had long healed over, fresh scars already present. Sokka felt a surge of immense gratitude to Katara suddenly: Suki would be healed and free of all this soon.

Suki had survived, she was a strong, hardy woman. Suki was alive and that was all that mattered to him.

She stared at him, blankly, and she mumbled, "Where am I?"

"Hideout," Sokka replied, proudly, "We've been hiding here while Aang's been out... when he wakes up, we're going to take the Fire nation out!"

Toph settled down on the floor with a strained look, and Katara went over to the cupboards and started rummaging for her things. She pulled a bucket out and filled it from the tap.

Sokka was possessed by an optimism he hadn't felt in months. Suki only looked confused, and despite the fact that her eyes were glassy, Sokka waved it off with a bright, "Katara'll fix you up, and then it'll all be good, right?"

He pulled her into a hug.

Suki seemed to be putting all her weight against his arms, her palms flat against his chest, and she pushed backwards as if she were trying to get away from him. While she hesitated there for a second, she started to get noticeably agitated.

"Let go," she said, urgently, and he did so, though he kept his hands on her forearms to support her. Katara moved in close, placing the bucket down knelt next to Suki to put a supportive arm around her. Suki said, "Sokka, get out."

He was confused, but his smile didn't leave her face, and he said, "What?"

"Get out," she repeated, a bit more urgently. She tensed up against Katara's brace, her shoulders knitting up and her legs drawing up to her chest. When Sokka didn't move at all, Suki snarled, louder, "Get out!"

"Why?" he asked, the smile fading from his face in an instant the second her voice lifted. He even edged back a bit, her eyebrows dipping into a frown. She shook her head furiously.

"It doesn't matter, just get out!" she demanded, her eyes swelling with tears. She looked away for a second, and though she made brief eye contact again, she seemed to have trouble looking at him in the eyes. Her eyes focused either somewhere over his shoulder or somewhere around his throat. Her entire body was set into a defensive posture.

"What? Suki, what's wrong?" he asked, and she looked right away, shrinking against Katara and out of his grip.

Suki snarled at him, downright feral, "GET OUT!"

"Why?"

Suki dissolved into tears, and she thumped her fist against his chest, hard, enough to make Sokka wince, but he didn't let go of her. She screamed, "I gave up on you, Sokka! I gave up! I knew you'd see Azula and that you'd realize something was wrong, and that you'd come for me, but you didn't! For months, you didn't! I gave up on you!"

She was to the point of shrieking at him, and Sokka just stared at her in horror and shame, and he didn't even realize he was so upset his eyes were welling up, too. He just stared, and stuttered a helpless, "Suki, I tried to, I really––"

"Just get the hell out of here!" she shouted, "Get out! I hate you, get out! I never want to see your pathetic face again!"

"Suki!" he replied, as she shoved at him and seemed repulsed by his very presence. Even as weak as she was, she put up a vicious fight against him. He tried again, desperately, "Suki, I tried, I swear I did, please!"

He was rightly freaked out and confused. He had never been more freaked out and hurt in his life by anything anyone had done to him, and Katara just said, before Suki could hurt herself any more, "Sokka, go."

Sokka moved his eyes from Suki to Katara, in disbelief and confusion. Surely Katara would back him up? Surely she would side with him and convince Suki to let him stay, or explain to her that he wasn't the enemy here?

But Katara failed him. She bit her lip for a fraction of a second, teeth ghosting over her lip hard, and then she said again, "Sokka, just go, okay?"

It was like everyone there was against him, and Suki had tears rolling freely down her cheeks, and he reluctantly backed off to rest on his heels, though he didn't go. Suki let out a choked sob and rested her forehead against Katara's shoulder.

"Suki, I tried," he said, hurt, and Katara didn't look at him. She was looking down at Suki, only the slightest bit bewildered, and she ran her hand over the back of Suki's head comfortingly.

"Just go, Sokka," Katara said. Sokka started to demand a reason, again, when Katara continued, wearily, "We're all tired, it's… it's going to be easier. Just take your sleeping bag and crash on the porch tonight, okay?"

Sokka stared at her, and he rose to his feet. His eyes moved to Suki, but she had her face against Katara's shoulder, and she was shaking with sobs. He could see the ridge of her spine so clearly against the rest of her body, and it scared him, in that light. He hesitated still, and Katara started to implore again, but before she could, he turned on his heel and headed to the door, forgetting his sleeping bag entirely.

From there, he paused to open it, and he gave Katara one last pleading, almost desperate look over his shoulder, but she was more focused on Suki. Sokka sighed, shoulders drooping, and he left.

He slammed the door shut behind him, like any common child would have, and it banged against the track loudly, the wood scraping violently. That was a bit embarrassing, but he didn't care at the time.

He flung himself up against the wall and slid down it to sit. Folding his arms across his chest, he let his head hang, struggling to keep himself calm.

What was wrong with her?!

They had just gone through hell to save her, he had _fought_ for the chance to save her, and he had climbed into that hated Fire nation uniform for the opportunity. And then he had brought her back here, risking being caught or collapsing under exhaustion, and all he wanted was to be happy and make sure she was going to be okay. If he could have saved her from Azula the second she showed up, he would have done it, but he didn't know! And he wanted to help her, the second he realized something was up: but he couldn't, he didn't know anything, and she had sworn to him she could protect herself!

And she was shouting and crying at him as if he had been the one to put her through everything she had been through. And that stung more than anything else – the fact that maybe she didn't want to be saved, or that she honestly didn't like him. But that made _no sense_, all the same.

Nothing made sense. Sokka cradled his pounding head in his arms, wanting to sleep, but he could hear Suki crying through the door and it nagged in his head. Katara was talking softly, and Suki was choking things out, things Sokka felt he should have been allowed to hear. Sokka tried to tune it out of his mind, but he couldn't stop himself from straining his ears to hear.

Didn't he matter? Suki was the number one concern, but why couldn't he help out? He wasn't a healer, but he knew Suki more than anyone else in that room. He liked her more than anyone else in that room. By rational logic, he should have been the first choice to stay, but they were letting _Toph_ stay, over him.

He let out a frustrated sigh, his eyes sluggishly blinking back angry tears, and he pressed the backs of his wrists against the tears, to block them from leaving his eyes. It worked, but it hurt. It annoyed him. He hated feeling like such a _crybaby_, though he had good reason to. It just seemed so weak, and he was a Water nation _man_.

The door opened, suddenly, and Sokka was halfway to his feet in a flash, thinking he was allowed to come back in. Thinking that, perhaps, it had been ten minutes of girl-talk, and Suki had come to her sense, and nothing more than that, but he stopped climbing to his feet when he realized it was Toph. She closed the door behind her and stared straight ahead of her, as usual, and Sokka sat back down. The instant he moved, she turned in his direction, and she walked his way.

It only took a step or two, and she sat down neatly beside him, cross-legged. Sokka tried to relax, but couldn't. Toph hung her own head. Her fingers fanned over the worn edge of the stone porch, and Sokka watched the surface of it grow smooth under her touch. He leaned back on his palms, and he closed his eyes with an angry sigh.

Toph said, "Feeling kind of kicked out, huh?"

He looked at her, with some sort of ridiculous frustration, struggling to find the right words to tell her she was stating the painfully obvious, but finding none. Sokka settled on some sort of undignified whine of protest.

"Yeah," he said, finally, when he worked his way out of his initial irritation at her. Not that she could tell by looking at his face, anyway, and that was good. He was making some pretty upset, angry faces right then.

"I don't blame you, but I don't blame her either," Toph said roughly, "I don't like her, sorry, she's just kind of snotty to me, but something real bad happened to her. Not just 'cause you keep getting upset, or because Katara has said it a million times, or because of what Suki says. I just feel it. And she is hurt."

Sokka glanced over at her, and she continued, "I don't have to even be near her, I can feel her shaking and vibrating the earth... I've never felt something like that from a person before, it's honestly kind of creepy. She's more like a cornered animal than a person, she's so bad."

Sokka was not heartened, and in fact, Toph really only served to depress him more. His high had deteriorated rapidly, replaced by an unyielding, overwhelming self-disgust. Had he really assumed Suki was alright, and able to just climb over this as if it were nothing? Had he even for a second considered that perhaps something worse than that had happened here,

He'd seen a lot in his past year. He'd seen misery and famine, sickness and broken hearts, but he'd never seen something quite like this. His naive little Water village had been nothing like this, and not even the Southern citadel had been like this before its fall. There never had never been a confrontation like this in his childhood's world, and nor had it come along to him so far in his manhood.

There were a lot of psychological implications to torture that he had assumed, but never quite considered, let alone applied to Suki.

"I couldn't stay in there," she said. Sokka bristled more, angry that she'd leave by choice when he was forced to be out here. Toph let out an exhausted sigh and she said, "I can't listen to that sort of stuff."

_That sort of stuff._

"What happened?" Sokka asked, and was too distracted to notice how embarrassingly worried his voice was. He did, however, work on brushing away all the wetness from his eyes, despite the fact that she obviously couldn't know how close he was to tears.

Toph fidgeted in her seat and eventually settled on slumping against the wall with her arms folded, body rigid. She said, bluntly, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Toph!" he protested, angrily.

"You don't want to know," she said, even more blunt. "You really don't."

"Of course I do," Sokka snapped, "It's pretty obvious a lot of things happened, she looks like she was put through hell, Toph. I want to know what happened! Obviously she really needed me!"

Toph seemed to ignore him, pointedly, and when he started to demand it from her again, she snapped back, "You think these walls are sound-proof, blockhead? Shut up, they'll hear you! Ask Katara or Suki herself later, I don't want to think about it, let alone repeat it."

Sokka recoiled. He looked away, angrily, and wiped at his eyes again, and Toph put her hand on the ground between them, and waited. He willed to keep himself completely still, but couldn't. After a moment, she pulled her hand away with something like embarrassment, and she seemed to pause, suddenly. She made an odd, instinctive face.

"Hey…" she trailed. Sokka tried to ignore her, knowing full well she couldn't see him putting his hands over his ears. She said something about him being upset.

Toph was bad at apologizing, he already knew it, and as much as he would have laughed good-naturedly at her any other time, right now he wasn't in the mood. He felt horrible. Every fragment of optimism and joy he'd felt over her being alive was utterly shattered and missing, as if it had never really been there. At that time, he should have been rejoicing, and instead, he was miserable.

Sokka's heart twisted in his chest and wrenched. Toph's hand tensed on the stone, and she said, "Don't feel so bad."

"How can I not?!" he snapped, without reigning himself in. "Toph, Suki kicked me out when something's seriously wrong! She hates me! I failed her! We always depend on each other! Always!"

"In the, what, two times you've been together?" Toph said, always quick to fight anger with anger. "Get real, Sokka. Stop whining, she has issues!"

"Then stop acting all high and mighty," he demanded, "And don't pretend you know Suki and I so well! You don't!"

Toph elbowed him hard, and he let out a grunt of pain and a protest, and she spoke over it with a stubborn, "I saw how you acted with her over the Serpent's Pass! You're close, sure, but isn't it kind of stupid to think that you're all magical and special together? So maybe she really cared about you, to the point of dreaming about you saving her, but you're hardly star-crossed lovers or some garbage like that!"

He could hardly contain himself. He didn't want to fight her, and the exhaustion and frustration in him were combining into a dangerous mix of ferocity. Toph seemed to be the same, and Sokka had no way of diffusing of this situation, and nor did he really want to. His anger was present and almost palpable on the air, and he was just about to offer to kick her butt on Suki's behalf for how she was acting when a small but extremely cold and random tidal wave engulfed them both.

Katara was standing at the door, leaning out of with anger livid on her face through all the streaks of tears, and both Toph and Sokka stared at her in a mix of surprise and indignation.

She said, violently, "Stop it, both of you!" She drew back the water, out of their clothes and the ground and into a large sphere that bobbed in her air behind her, and she continued brusquely, "Just go to bed before someone gets killed!"

Turning on her heel and bringing her bubble inside, she slammed the door with a very sincere and apologetic, "I'm sorry, Suki, hopefully they'll be quiet now..."

Sokka stared at the door for a second, and he felt his anger soften, only to be replaced by a very, very heavy sense of weariness. With great shame he glanced at Toph and grumbled a "Sorry", and she just nodded and replied ditto, and suggested they "just hit the hay".

Toph would probably give Katara hell tomorrow for it, he figured.

Sokka didn't think he'd ever sleep, and figured Toph wouldn't either, but after about five minutes of uncomfortable silence punctuated by sobs and over-loud apologies and gasps from inside, Toph slumped over against him, fast asleep. Her shoulder dug against his arm, and her head was heavy against his shoulder, but he barely noticed.

Sleep eventually claimed him, but not until a few painful hours of personal contemplation had passed, under the fading moon and the heavy blush of dawn.


	5. Execution

Asdasdjkas! Oh the things you can do in so few hours!

Here's the next chapter, enjoy, and I implore you not to peruse the reviews if you want to remain unspoiled for episodes 9 through 11. Someone reviewed with a spoiler list, and I can't delete it, because it's signed. Mind, I haven't READ the spoiler list, but I know that's what it is.

Thanks for that, FFN, really.

**CHAPTER FIVE: EXECUTION**



_"What keeps you living?" Azula said, calmly. "Honestly. I would have thought that after a week or two, you'd curl up in the corner and wish for death, just like any other Earth kingdom coward would, but you haven't."_

_"Because I have hope," Suki said. She said it calmly; she said it like it was nothing to her. She just stood in her cell and stared Azula down, her hands at her sides and curled into fists. _

_Azula let out an equally calm "Oh, really? I can't imagine what for."_

_"Because someone I know will come save me," she said. "Even if I can't escape, I'll get out one way or another."_

_Azula only smiled, and Suki felt that chill down her spine. She waited for the Princess' answer, and then Azula said, so seriously, "Of course you will."_

_Suki waited for a heartbeat, and then Azula finished, as casual as anything, "The only way out is up, through the spirit world, of course."_

_She made a gesture, pointing up, like smoke rising, and Suki could say nothing. She could do nothing._

_She could only hope._



Zuko didn't like how badly things had turned. His head pounded. He didn't know where Uncle Iroh was now, and he was standing by Azula's side, of all people.

"I have a proposition for you," Azula said, folding one leg over the other with a smile that couldn't even begin to mask all the nasty ideas circulating in her head.

Zuko was tempted to leave, but the Dai Li surrounded them, and Uncle Iroh was still caught. Zuko had confidence in his ability to get away, because Azula didn't seem to be in the mood for hide-and-seek, but he was no Earthbender –– leaving meant leaving Uncle in his crystal prison, in the catacombs, and he couldn't do that, even now, not when he'd sided with his sister.

Azula laced her fingers together over her knee, and she seemed to relish her own power. She sat on the throne of the Earth king, and even in that great hall, she looked ahead of her as if she were standing over the earth itself. Zuko's stomach twisted.

"I'm listening," he uttered, looking to her. The room felt suffocatingly close around him, and he felt the urge to run like never before, especially when Azula turned her head to look at him dead in the eyes.

She said, "I would prefer delivering the news of Ba Sing Se's fall to Father in person. I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

"Father will have me killed if I go into Fire nation waters," Zuko said, hollowly, and at that moment, he hated her more than anything. She had ripped the Avatar out from under his feet, killed him, sent him packing for the spirit world, and now the Avatar would be reborn as a baby in the Water tribe.

He had been so close. So close, and just like everything else, Azula had taken away his chances. His chance at impressing Grandfather, his chance at impressing Father, and now his chance at retrieving his honour. Snatched, stolen away with a clever smirk.

"Now that the Northern Water Tribe is the last bastion of the free world, Zuko, I'm going to destroy it, and present the entire world to Father on his birthday, two months from now. Surely he'll allow you to present your case and then seek the new Avatar," Azula said. "Don't worry. I'll keep him from getting your other eye."

Zuko didn't know what to say. Here she was, the stealer, the thief, the ruiner of everything he wanted and held dear, and she held an offer above his head on a string. She dangled it in his face, swaying and bobbing, and he knew she'd pull it out of his grasp the second he reached for it.

"Besides," Azula said, "Uncle's going. Don't you want to go with him, to see his execution?"

Zuko looked to the floor in shame. He grit his teeth, and nodded, and Azula unfolded her hands with a smile, and she said, "It's settled, then. We make for the Royal Palace in two weeks, once we've dismantled Ba Sing Se. The pathetic scum here still doesn't know that their precious King is gone, we might as well begin removing the walls."

And off Azula went, not even bothering to hear his reply. She began giving orders, calling scribes and calling for messenger hawks, and preparing the elimination plans. Talks of burning and razing began. Talks of looting began. Talks of summoning great amounts of soldiers began, and how the elimination of the countryside and city of Ba Sing Se had to be as co-ert as the coup itself.

Zuko sat down on the steps to the throne and folded his arms across his knees, tucking his head down. He got to thinking, right then, about what he had just done, what he had just helped.

No one paid any attention to him but Azula, who so casually reached down to him as she passed down the stairs. She stroked his hair once, and then twice, and if it weren't for the rake of her nails, he might have thought this caring.

"Don't fret," she said, "I'll keep you safe."

One might have said he had regrets and worries, and they were right.

Zuko couldn't run now.

Zuko couldn't find safety.



Zuko hadn't seen Mai up close in years. True, she hadn't changed much – she still had a strong profile and sharp eyes, the same dark hair, cut into a rather foreign style. She still wore overbearing traditional robes; and most of all she still had the same calm and quiet attitude.

"How have you been?" he asked, drawing himself away from the great bonfire in the courtyard, the one that was burning centuries worth of ancient scrolls pulled from the shelves of Ba Sing Se's greatest library. The flames must have reached ten feet high, the fire was so big, and a few civilians gathered around it in tears.

Mai didn't reply at first, she just looked him over, and then she said, "I've been fine."

Zuko waited a heartbeat, and then impatiently asked, "Aren't you going to ask how I've been?"

"No," she said, calmly, though with the slightest bit of disgust. "I can guess how you've been."

True. Didn't stop him from feeling stung, though, and he looked away from her and set his eyes on the fire. A civilian was wailing about lost history and lost memories, but they could do nothing as the Dai Li piled on more and more scrolls.

"Hmph," Zuko scowled, and Mai glanced at him. He glanced at her, and then he said, "Well, whatever, then. I don't know why I bother talking to you, you're so quiet."

"Because Ty Lee is loud and rambunctious, and Azula is your sister. You talk to me because I'm not crazy," Mai said, diplomatic, and there was the slightest of amused – and abused – looks there. She continued, "You don't have to feel like you have to, though."

Zuko didn't quite know how to reply to that, so he just said, "Do you want to see the city? I know my way around."

"Not really," Mai said, but she took his arm anyway, the same way any young lady would take the arm of her escort. Zuko struggled to smile naturally when his face was getting to be so hot in the cheeks, but he thought he managed just fine, all things considered.

"Good, because I know this fountain…"



"Aaaah, this has been fun," Ty Lee said, "but I think I'm ready to join the circus again."

Mai glanced over, bored, and she said, "I'm sick of the Earth kingdom. Toppling kingdoms is just work, not fun."

Ty Lee had dropped down onto her hands, and with minimal effort, she flipped her legs in the air. She paced back and forth, on her palms, with her legs dangling in front of her. Mai watched as her friend went back and forth, back and forth, lifting and lowering her legs as needed to keep balance.

Not once, in all these years, had she envied Ty Lee's ability to do so. It looked horribly uncomfortable, and she didn't fancy those arms. No, Mai was much more comfortable in her long and heavy robes.

"You know, I was happy in the circus, before Azula showed up," Ty Lee said as she flipped back to her feet, and Mai raised an eyebrow. Ty Lee brushed the dust off her hands, glancing at the tiled floor with an almost accusatory look, and she said, "She's fun and all, and I like the adventure, but she's too…"

Mai waited for Ty Lee to find the word. It didn't come.

"She has too much avarice," Mai suggested.

"What's that?" Ty Lee replied.

Mai wondered if she should be talking like this so frankly. After all – to be out of Azula's favour meant her family could be out of favour with the Royal family, and that wasn't good. Mai said, quietly, "It means she wants a lot."

"I think everyone wants a lot," Ty Lee replied, with a smile, but her eyebrows dipped down to look concerned. Mai shrugged.

"Not me. I just want something to do," Mai said.

"Me too!" Ty Lee enthused, sympathetically, and then she said, "Well, I guess we should pack sooner or later. I mean, the walls are down, the people are running like bugs, and then we get to go home!"

"Azula wants us to detour back to the prison where those Kyoshi warriors are," Mai corrected, "_then_ we're catching her ship back home."

Ty Lee made a disgusted face, her round cheeks lifting. Mai didn't say anything, and then Ty Lee said, "Why? I mean, we already know everything, I dunno why she cares so much. But it's boring to just walk around this palace! There aren't even any cute guards here! So I guess going is okay, even if it's totally grimy there. Ew."

"Remember when we were kids and Azula got that dollhouse for her birthday?" Mai asked. She wondered, vaguely, how to phrase what she wanted to say, but she didn't need to worry. Ty Lee was already off rambling.

"Oh, oh, I remember that one! Is it the one she melted the next month?" Ty Lee said, and then she rambled on: "Gosh, I remember how she didn't want to do cartwheeling and stuff for weeks, all she wanted to do was play out stories with those dumb dolls and how they were her personal worshippers or something! I even invited her to sleep over, a few times, and she said no, because she wanted to play with her dolls alone!"

"Yes," Mai said, "exactly."

Exactly.



He found Azula on the balcony. She was in her sleeping robes, still, and that was cause for a bit of embarrassment, as she had called him into her room without informing him of that. It was, well… indecent, but as long as she was covered up, he didn't care.

"You wanted to say something to me?" he said, none-too-sweetly. Azula glanced at him over her shoulder, as if he was a mere afterthought, and then she went back to overlooking the city.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" she said, almost happily, as she surveyed. Zuko joined her, bracing his hands against the railing, and he shrugged.

The walls were being dismantled, but more than that, he could see hundreds of thousands of people gathered around the palace walls. They made such a ruckus that Zuko could almost hear from, even from so far away, and he glanced at Azula sidelong with a frown. She almost seemed to be admiring them.

"You do know they hate you, right?" he asked.

"Oh, but they came to see me all the same," Azula replied.

"You're so arrogant it makes me feel sick," Zuko replied.

"Mind where you are sick, then, I can't stand the smell," Azula said.

"Did you call me up to point out your adoring fans and tell me not to be sick, or did you actually have a point in calling me up here?" Zuko demanded, and Azula shrugged and left the balcony. He followed her, almost to the point of stomping his feet.

She seated herself in front of the Earth king's dresser and began to do her hair. She said, "Oh, I wanted to talk, but give me a moment. This is all such a hassle without servants everywhere, to do everything for me. I can hardly get _anything_ done."

Zuko knew this was a bit fat lie, too: even as a child, Azula had rarely allowed the needless help of servants around her personal quarters. They made her beds, they took care of her physical room, but Azula dressed herself, did her own make-up, and did her own hair. She was being difficult now for Zuko's sake, and it drove him up walls.

"Brush my hair for me, will you?" she said, and she looked at him with eyes ready to kill. Zuko scowled, an expression he knew would become redundant very, very soon, and he stalked over. She held out a brush, and he took it.

At this point, he just wanted to know what she wanted and leave. He ran it through her hair none-too-nicely, and she reached up and grabbed his wrist, and said, "Be nice."

"Only if you will be," Zuko said, and Azula smiled at her own reflection.

"Very well," she said, and released him. He was gentler, even nice, and when she was satisfied with how things were going, she said, "I've called my ship. My personal guard will take us, and we'll be escorted by General Shang and his unit."

"Alright," Zuko said, not pleased. "When are we leaving?"

"If we leave tomorrow morning, we should be able to arrive at the port on the same day my ship gets there," Azula said. "At this rate, you'll be home by time the full moon rolls around."

"Great," Zuko said, still not pleased. "Anything else you wanted to tell me? Or do you have any more pointless chores? And I'm being sarcastic, don't dare actually give me more chores."

"I'll give you whatever I want, in my kingdom," Azula said, and she pushed his hands from her way, so she could draw her hair up into a topknot. It, like everything else, was perfect, too. She said, diligently, "And before I forget, we're making a quick stop to a prison en route. I have some friends I need to catch up with, let them know how things went with Ba Sing Se."

Zuko kept on frowning and feeling angry and Azula waved him off. He wondered, bitterly, how he could be so alone while a witch like her had friends everywhere.

"Go then, if you're going to be sour to me," she said, with a smile, "I'm sure you can't wait to get home to Father, anyway."

In all honesty, he really could.



Zuko had just pulled off his shirt and picked up his loose sleeping pants when Azula opened the door to his room, uninvited. He made a show of tripping over his discarded shirt in surprise, and when he caught himself against the dresser, he growled at her, "You could knock."

"I could," Azula agreed. "But don't be so rude: I've just come to wish you a good night and remind you that we're leaving before the sun rises, tomorrow. If you're not ready, you can run behind my palanquin."

"No thanks," Zuko said. He huffed and she lingered in the doorway, as if she were waiting to be invited in for a heartwarming brother-to-sister chat. When she waited, he said, grumpily, "Did you want something or are you just going to stand there all night?"

Apparently, she did.

"You know, Zuko," Azula said, slyly, "I never really found much wisdom in all the old-fashioned proverbs Uncle told us, as children, but one of them seems to be true, at least, for you."

"Oh?" Zuko said, brushing her off gracelessly. Azula's smirk twitched wider, for a second, and only then did Zuko pay more attention. She stalked closer, like a cat on the prowl. He was curious, even if he knew he'd be insulted in mere moments.

He was too hotheaded to not get angry, anyway.

"'_A child's life is like a piece of paper, on which every person leaves a mark_'," Azula recited, calmly, and then she slid one hand around his shoulder to pull him closer. The gesture was remarkably unusual, and Zuko knew what she was thinking.

She just wanted to whisper vicious little "lies" into his ears.

"I wonder, brother, how my mark looks. We all know what Father's is like, but I imagine mine is much more discreet," she said, "Like a knife cut clean through paper... you don't see what effect it has on your scroll until you try to roll everything up together again. It just tears to shreds and pieces."

Zuko scoffed, but he felt the back his neck and his ear burn with anger, and his shoulders grew more rigid. He racked his brain for something he could retort with, but he just couldn't bring any of Uncle's proverbs to mind. Hadn't they been repeated to him every day for years, like mantras? Why couldn't he recall a single one when he needed to use one against her?

All he could remember was the one about flies and hatchets, and that was no good.

So he just let out an annoyed growl and pulled away from her, angrily. He said, "Shut up, Azula."

Azula didn't follow his pull, and she said, "Don't be upset just because it's true."

"No man is perfected without trials," Zuko said, finally, after a moment of contemplation. He was pretty sure he was missing half of it, but that was fine. Azula's smirk flickered, and then there was her reply, smooth as honey and twice as sickly sweet:

"If you believe everything you hear, then you'd best not hear," Azula replied.

She made a reach towards his intact ear, the one that worked best, as if she intended to snap it right off with her claws, but she did the motion in mid-air, almost teasing him. He moved away and swatted at her, and she only smiled and danced out of his reach, and with a smirk and a little "Sleep tight, Zuko" she walked right out of the room.



Their departure was so early, Zuko was surprised he even managed to get up. He was still exhausted from the week before, and he could only grumble and mumble under his breath as he was given a mount to ride. He arranged himself into the saddle, and was otherwise treated as a curiosity. He was, unfortunately, the banished prince. No one cared about how in the dark he was, it was all the same to them.

He was expected to shut up and ride, and go wherever he was led. He kept his ride near the side of Azula's palanquin, despite the fact that he didn't want to be anywhere near her, simply because she had all the information. He listened to all the things she was offered, and then one of the pages turned to him to say, "Zuko, you've been invited to ride with the General, too."

Azula glanced between the page and Zuko, and then shooed the page off. She glanced at Zuko, as he waited for her to make a move towards the General, but she didn't. She just said, "It's a common courtesy for the General to invite the monarchy to ride with him. Go if you want, I won't miss your company."

Zuko thought it was silly and hypocritical of her.

Azula caught his eye as she arranged herself on her seat in the palanquin. She folded one leg over the other, with plenty of decorum, and she said, "Is there something on my face, or are you just incapable of being polite and not staring?"

With the jibe, he snapped back to reality, and he said, skeptically, "Not going to go?"

The corners of her mouth twitched up, and she gave him a cool, remarkably docile stare with those golden eyes. Zuko held the gaze, waiting for an answer, and she finally said, "No. Generals lead the troops, if you recall. You and I are lieutenant generals."

Zuko sort of stared for a moment, his mouth opening a bit and then clamping shut. He said, "Well, still, aren't you going to ride with the General? I've been invited to, and it's in my –– our –– rank."

"No, thanks," Azula said, "I've never ridden with him." She paused to pick under one flawless nail, despite the fact that there was nothing marring its perfect surface. "There's no need for political or military small-talk between us, we can do all that at the colony, and then where-ever the unit is needed. But you may ride with him if you want, if you want to learn from him."

She glanced back at him, raising one eyebrow, and she said, "Unless you'd like to walk by my palanquin and regale me with tales of the Earth Kingdom. It'd be nice to hear it from someone who has lain on his belly with them."

This caught Zuko's nerves and he let out a growl, and he took an angry step towards the palanquin. Azula didn't seem jarred by this sudden show, and she simply shrugged and undid the tie-back on the curtains. The beautiful old fabrics of the ancient curtains fell back, hiding all but her silhouette. He watched her put a hand to her mouth and mime a giggle.

"I suppose not, then," she said, and he turned sharply in his saddle.

He took the reins angrily and he jostled them violently, and then swung himself into the saddle. The giant lizard's sides heaved, under his legs, and he kicked it into a trot. It slunk alongside the lines of troops, snaking up to match paces with the General's.

"General Shang," Zuko said, respectfully, shoving down all his bitterness. "It's an honour to fight alongside you, sir. My Uncle has spoken of you many times."

General Shang turned his head, just barely, so he could see Zuko out of the corner of his eye. Zuko could see that he was a man just past his prime, old enough to be a General but not old enough to be one that hung around on the sidelines. He wasn't terribly battle scarred, other than a long, freshly-healed slash across one cheek, but Zuko knew a warrior when he saw one. It was something about the way they carried themselves, with the strong, confidently-held shoulders and the way they lifted their chins, and this man, with his harsh features and his heavy build, certainly suggested power.

Besides, no one became a General without good reason. As goofy as his Uncle Iroh could be, he was a powerful man. A powerful man at his younger brother's mercy, but a powerful man all the same.

"Prince Zuko," General Shang said, almost droll. Zuko didn't like the tone, and it was confirmed when the General said, "Or, should I say, Zuko the Banished. It's a right shame. Had your Uncle not chosen to accompany you in your exile, he would have remained a candidate for First Class."

Zuko replied, "Are you saying he ruined himself for me?"

"No, boy," General Shang replied, "He slaughtered his own glory, ruined his chances to become an Admiral, and then he picked up all the tiny pieces and crushed them under your dead weight."

Zuko was stunned. His fingers curled around the reins tighter, the raw leather creaking, and he replied, "My Uncle Iroh is a great man, and I'm not––"

"Oh, shut up, boy, before you give me cause to regale your father with tales of riding with _you_," the General huffed. He scoffed, he scorned, and overall, he infuriated Zuko, who could do nothing but comply, if he wanted to get home.



Azula was confident enough when they arrived that her friend would be in the mood for a good chat over tea, or perhaps just a good chat.

The girl began to seem a bit crazy, after a while, delirious and ridiculous. Like her brain wasn't functioning right – like her head was going soft, like things would just floated in one ear and out the other one. Azula could imagine why: the scarce bit of food she got once a day wasn't enough to sate her hunger, the few hours she managed to sleep while curled on the floor wasn't enough to ward off the exhaustion, and the wounds she had received over the weeks didn't heal well. Azula had no doubts about any of that, after all.

It stood to reason that her mind was starting to get a bit foggy, especially as she sat in the dark for hours and hours, with only the feeble light from the hall.

And, after three weeks away, Azula saw her good friend again. When her friend was starting to go a bit loopy, that was when Azula showed up, leaning against the door but not quite looking through the window. Azula said, almost playful, "Still have hope?"

"Yes," Suki said, but she lied about it, and Azula knew it.

And then Azula only smiled and disappeared from view, but she knew Suki was bringing her knees up to her chest and curling into a painful ball. Azula knew Suki was gritting her teeth to keep from crying. She couldn't cry in front of Azula.



Zuko felt uncomfortable, to say the least. Mai didn't seem too better off, judging by how she sat on the very edge of her chair, as if she didn't want to touch its surface. Ty Lee had refused to even come inside, this time around, and Zuko didn't blame her. It was positively disgusting, in these lower-level rooms, like there hadn't been a cleaning in weeks.

He was paying close attention to what looked like bloodstains on the tabletop, but then decided to spare himself his lunch and pretend it wasn't. He just paced, in the painful silence, until he had to break it.

"And what exactly were you doing here?" Zuko scrunched up his nose. "If you already had the uniforms, why would you bother coming here? I'd've just left them in the woods."

"Beats me," Mai sighed, and then she waved a hand, dismissively. She said, "This place is just perfect for someone like her, anyway."

"She thrives here," Zuko agreed. He glanced at her, sidelong, and he said, "Why do you even bother with her?"

"Because I have to," Mai said, almost bitterly. She continued, "And that's where we stop talking about my friendship with her."

Zuko frowned, but he said, "But Mai––"

"I know you have a lot of personal bias against her," Mai said, lifting her voice, "and trust me, so do I. But that doesn't matter. Like I said, we're not discussing that anymore."

Zuko scowled and fell into a stony silence. It lingered like the humidity in the air, and Mai's eyes were set dead ahead of her, not exactly focusing on anything, while Zuko's moved from mildew stain to rust to suspicious mark on the wall. Water was puddling in one corner, dripping from the steel-reinforced ceiling.

Finally, Mai broke the silence with a quiet, "The funny thing about being a politician's daughter is that you learn a lot about politics over the dinner table, but can't say anything about them. I never had anything against the Earth kingdom, not once. Those girls might have been annoying and flimsy and pathetic warriors, but Azula takes everything too far."

There was another pause, and then Mai said, "But, then again, what do you care?" The silence resumed, and Mai seemed to fume, quietly.

Zuko felt his discomfort grow until he figured it would be more comfortable to sit on a bed of needles. He would have preferred to share a room with a starving predator, or to be facing down Azula herself, which would have been as brutal as hell itself, and twice as hot.

He wasn't sure what made it so bad to hear, but the fact that Mai seemed so horribly against Azula yet unsympathetic to Zuko's plea just made him feel trapped. He took another glance around the room, concerned and yet so panicked, and he wondered if Uncle Iroh was going to be in here any time soon. He wondered if they'd be leaving his Uncle here.

"I want to leave," Zuko said, but that was irrelevant. At that moment, the door swung open with a bang and both Zuko and Mai looked up. Azula was standing in the doorway.

Zuko's eyes drifted down her front, and his eyebrows raised. Her lip was bruised. Her breathing was haggard. The front of her shirt was smeared in dirt, the crimson red shoulder-pieces marred. Azula brushed her hands off, businesslike, and then she pulled off the pauldron and dumped it on the ground.

Mai and Zuko stared at her, without saying anything, and Azula announced, "I'm going to change. I expect to find you two prepared to leave with the rest of the unit in exactly twenty minutes."

Her tone was livid, her nostrils flared just slightly, and she lifted her chin. She was all too enraged, and Mai just said, "Alright, Princess Azula."

Mai took Zuko by the wrist and led him past Azula with her head held high, without questioning anything. As Zuko went, he looked at Azula over his shoulder, and watched her bring a hand over her ribs and cringe, and he felt a twinge of concern.

When they started up the stairs, they met Ty Lee on the landing. Ty Lee said, "Gee, I told her that taunting that girl would get her hurt, but she never listens to anyone."

Zuko just replied, as Mai kept him walking and Ty Lee fell into step behind them, "No kidding."

Zuko's concern washed away, to be rapidly replaced with more hatred for his sister.



When they hit the road, Zuko tried to take things into his own hands, his concerns about his sister only heightened by her presence, and that horrible sense of mystery about her. Mai's words weren't comforting. Azula's words weren't comforting. Ty Lee's were, at best, humourous, but Zuko just couldn't laugh.

"How come no one suspects you?" Zuko demanded, vehemently. "No one ever considers that you're the one that's pulling all the strings here. You're always around when someone goes missing or dies. And not just with mother or grandfather – and all the people you encounter, too. So many people have died under suspicious circumstances brought by you and never has anyone suggested you did it."

Azula didn't seem to care one way or the other – Zuko could have been talking about the weather, and it'd all be the same to her. She just peered at her nails as if there were something disgusting lodged under them, though they were as pristine as ever. Zuko waited for some sort of answer, and finally, Azula looked up, with one eyebrow raised skeptically. She said, almost surprised at his accusation, "Because I didn't."

"That's a lie," Zuko admonished, "stop lying to me."

"Well, Zuko, look at this logically. Who would try to place blame on the Princess of the Fire Nation?" Azula replied, curtly. "Even you would be wrong to accuse me of murder, or any crime, in fact. And a peasant calling nobility a murderer would result in an execution, we all know that."

Zuko paused, and then he said, "Uncle Iroh is an honest man, and you're making him walk in chains because you're too conceited to admit your own faults."

"As if I have faults," Azula replied, swiftly. She moved from her chair with something akin to impatience, her lip curling and her eyes going straight ahead of her. She hopped out of the palanquin as it stopped moving, and she walked briskly, and Zuko jerked the reins of the great lizard to get it to follow her.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, and she only looked over her shoulder and offered him one of those wicked looks, and when he followed her path with his eyes, he saw that she was headed straight for the General. "Azula!" he said, immediately concerned and angry, "Azula, come back here!"

She ignored him, with good reason, and Zuko let out a huff of indignity, but he tried to look calm as the General stopped the entire procession to speak with Azula. The General even dismounted to speak with her, and he sank to one bulky knee with great difficulty. Even then, he was so tall he was nearly eye-level with her.

He said, "Is there something the matter, Princess Azula?"

"Yes, in fact, there is," Azula replied, and Zuko could have hurled when he heard that adopted sweet tone, because the poisonous undertone was absolutely noxious. Azula said, with the slightest gesture behind her, "My brother has been in the Earth kingdom for some time, and I've just discovered he isn't fit to be travel at my side. I wish to have him made a member of the unit, and march."

Zuko protested, coming to a stop behind her, "Azula! You're crazy!" The mental image of himself with basic armour, marching on foot, and acting as nothing but a lackey was positively painful to imagine.

Azula didn't even look at him, she kept her eyes trained on the General's the entire time, and the faintest of smiles lingered on her lips. She said, "This will be done, correct?"

Azula probably didn't even need to use those tones with the General. It seemed that the General had wanted the same thing all along, for he all too easily lifted his eyes to Zuko and said, "You've heard the Princess, boy. Fall in."

"What?" Zuko said, fairly disgusted. The General narrowed his eyes.

"Fall in," he repeated.

Azula turned then to look at him, and she took the reins of the beast near its mouth. Zuko got the slightest bit of satisfaction when it bucked its head up and almost knocked her off balance, but when Azula ordered him to dismount, he wasn't so pleased.

"Banished or not, I'm the Prince of the Fire Nation," Zuko said, "I'm not some peasant boy drafted into the army, I refuse."

"I'll make sure to tell Dad that," Azula said, and she looked up at him with dangerous eyes. "I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that his screw-up son still hasn't learnt to listen to his General. Until you're back in his good graces, let's keep the rebellion to a minimal, hm, Zuko?"

Zuko felt the hate bubble in his gut, and all at once, he regretted siding with Azula. It made him feel sick to his stomach. He held her gaze for a moment, silently, and then he swung himself out of the saddle. He practically whipped the reins into Azula's hands, he was so angry, and he stomped off to join the company with his mouth turned down in fury and his eyebrow dipped low.

He pushed himself in between two soldiers and settled there, angrily, both of them looking nervously amused. Azula gave him a look of smugness, and then she gave a curt nod to the General. She smiled and headed back towards her palanquin as the General remounted his ride and turned in the saddle to roar the commands.

And Zuko marched.



"If you do nothing to take your own destiny, you'll just be a failure forever. Much like how a pauper remains a pauper, you see. And how much of a waste would that be? Now, of course, if someone's willing to pick that pauper up and turn him into a prince, that's different."

Zuko didn't reply to this jibe. He just kept chewing on his dinner. He kept his eyes on his plate, determined not to get into an argument with Azula here. He felt sober, despite his drained glass, and despite how Mai's hand kept drifting to rest on his thigh under the table.

"What do you think, Zuko?" Azula prompted, and Zuko swallowed his mouthful of chicken and reached for another piece from the communal bowl. When he didn't acknowledge her, she reached over with her chopsticks and pinched the end of his own pair, and held them still, so he couldn't do anything.

He looked up and said, "Would you leave me alone already?"

(At this, the candles melted down a good inch or two, as the flames surged so intensely as he snapped at her. Bits of wax trickled across the table.)

"Aw, come on, Zuko," Ty Lee whined, "We're just talking about destiny! It's so neat, you don't have to be such a fuddy-duddy!"

"I'd rather not," Zuko declined, and he yanked his chopsticks from Azula's with a scowl. He moved to grab another piece of chicken, and this time, she let him. He popped it in his mouth.

"Why not?" Azula said, "It's just friendly conversation, Ty Lee's right. You don't have to act like such a child."

"I'm not acting like a child," Zuko snapped, and at that very moment, the ship rocked with the water, nearly toppling their dinner glasses. Mai braced herself with one hand against his shoulder, and he glanced at her sideways. She let go, and went back to her dinner.

"Well then, play nicely and discuss destiny with us," Azula said. Her fingertips brushed over Zuko's knuckles when she reached across the table to lay her hand on his, and then she took his hand and forcibly turned it over. Zuko didn't move, and she bent his fingers open, a movement that he resisted to at first and then allowed. He didn't know what she was up to.

"Ever done chiromancy?" Azula asked.

"No, it's for little kids and old women," Zuko replied. "As if you know anything about palm reading, Azula."

"Be nice, or I can arrange for your dinner to be sent to the stockades, where I'm sure Uncle would enjoy the company," Azula said, all too diplomatic for a girl of her mindset. When Zuko just breathed through his nose, angrily, she just went back to inspecting his palm, and after a second, she let it go.

"You're going to die cold and unhappy, I think," she said. She glanced at Ty Lee sideways, and then at Mai, and she said, seriously, "What do you think? An early grave? No love? I thought I saw a bit of doom and despair in there, but I could be wrong."

Zuko scowled again, and he muttered, under his breath, "Uncle'd be better company than you."

"What's that?" Azula prompted, lifting her eyebrows, and Zuko shook his head. Azula smirked, and Zuko felt Ty Lee reach over and grab his hand. He let her peruse it, rather impatiently, and the last straw was drawn when she finished and announced her own results.

"No wonder you're such a terrible firebender!" Ty Lee exclaimed, "Your fingers are so long, and your palm isn't exactly square. Gee, they're like Earth hands. Maybe you spent too much time there!"

Zuko had had enough. He shoved himself away from her, ripping his hand from her grip, and he stood up. He said, angrily, "I've had enough! Just cut it out, all of you!"

"I didn't do anything," Mai huffed, and Zuko rounded on her.

"No, but you _let them_," Zuko said, "Just stop it with the jokes, it's getting a really old. I've spent time in the Earth nation, yes, you can shut up about it. Having hands that aren't Fire hands doesn't mean _anything_. Stupid little creases on your hands don't mean anything, either!"

Azula's frustrations seemed to surface, a bit, and she put down her chopsticks neatly, and she looked up at him skeptically. The jibe got to Zuko immediately.

"If it doesn't mean anything, why are you getting so upset?"

"Because it annoys me!" Zuko snapped.

"Because you don't know how to control your temper and your emotions," Azula replied, "and that's why you're such a failure."

Zuko had had enough. He quite literally threw down his chopsticks, a rude act in itself, and they fell upon the table crossed in an "x". Ty Lee gasped and flicked them apart, and Zuko ignored her and said, "_Goodnight."_

"Sleep well," Azula replied, but Zuko was already out the door. He slammed it behind him with a great metal clang, and she merely commented, "He's so easy."



Azula was out of bed at the same time as usual, at the crack of dawn. She trained on the deck of the ship for two hours, as usual, but had to stop early, and she trained gentler than usual, as she had for the past weeks. Generally, the ship docking was no reason to stop training, as she did whatever she wanted, and she would have asked them to go in circles for a bit just so she could finish her training without being bothered by docking, but she was pulling into home, and she had other business to attend to.

With displeasure, she oversaw the docking, and approached Zuko to inform him of the day's schedule. Obviously, when she took him by surprise on the helm of the ship, with Mai at his side, he wasn't pleased.

Especially when the message was, "I've sent for your formal clothes, I expect you to be ready within the hour, Zuko."

"Why do I need formal clothes?" he said. He was wearing beige pants and a plain crimson robe, hardly clothes for a returning prince, banished or not. When she glanced him up and down, he said, "Why not just regular clothes? Unless I'm meeting with Father today?"

"You aren't," Azula said, curtly, "we have an execution to attend."

Zuko's mouth fell open and he gave Mai a helpless look, which, Azula was pleased to note, Mai didn't give into. Zuko turned back to Azula and said, "Uncle Iroh's being executed? Without even a trial? That's not fair!"

"Look at it this way: it's Uncle's fault that the siege on the North failed, and he almost interrupted Ba Sing Se. I've been sending messenger hawks back and forth with Father ever since, they've more or less decided a verdict for him."

"Does he know?" Zuko demanded, "Does he know he's being disrespected like this? He's a great General, he's--"

"Oh, stop it, Zuko, it's pathetic to be so concerned about a traitor and a kook. Especially one that turned against you, in the end. He's hardly fit to be called family, if he can't be trusted at all." With a casual sigh, Azula brushed it off and glanced at Mai to ask, "Are you coming?"

Zuko said nothing, and Mai said, "Might as well, if everyone else is."



When Azula boarded her palanquin to go from the ship straight to the execution grounds, and Zuko sort of stood there like an idiot at the foot of hers, she didn't bother telling him that only royalty rode in them, and he was still considered banished.

"Is Father attending?" Zuko asked. He was wearing formal robes, but as there weren't any that were made to fit him, his was baggy and draped over him like it was going to smother him, something that honestly amused Azula.

She said, "No. He's a busy man."

"He can't even attend the execution of his own brother?" Zuko said, almost angry, and Azula looked at him pointedly.

"If it makes you feel better, Zuzu, if you were being executed, I'd get front row seats. Just to prove I care."

She reached out of the palanquin and patted him on the shoulder, and Zuko curled his lip. She then glanced around the gathering crowds, as they neared the grounds. The crowd was as silent as the grave, and for a good reason: Iroh's execution had been advertised for a week now, and as shamed as he was, he still had many fans from his glory days. People came from far and wide to cry over a fool, Azula thought.

She could see the pyre built, the wood around it arranged in a bare ring for symbolism alone. The metal post in the middle of it stood high on the hill, against the clouds. The chains, and their blackened manacles, dangled in the breeze. The rig hadn't been used in years.

News travelled fast in the Fire nation, anyway, and lovers and haters alike were united to see it. The only thing missing was the Fire Lord himself, but the Crown Princess more than did the job. And then, too, was the rumour that the banished princes was returning.

All the more reason, Azula thought, to make Zuko walk next to her palanquin, even if he wouldn't go behind it. She felt all eyes flick between her, Zuko, and the pole. Azula said, softly, "Today, we gather to learn the meaning of the term 'blood traitor'."

Eyes turned to her, as if she were addressing them personally, and amongst those eyes was Zuko's single good eye. His ruined eye barely flicked to her properly.

Her own amber eyes turned onto the post, upon which Uncle Iroh was being shackled to. But her eyes drifted back to Zuko almost immediately. Her brother's face was wrenched with sorrow, as if a huge claw was hooked into his gut, and he was struggling to stay apathetic towards it all. Azula understood his great emotional turmoil, but she felt no pity for him.



The speeches went on for literally an hour, and the morning was grey but dry. Iroh stood patiently, and he even had the gall to smile, and playfully banter off whatever the master of the ceremonial execution was saying. It was horribly awkward, to see the master of ceremonies explain Iroh's life, and have Iroh casually correct him or tack on more details.

But what Zuko found even worse, really, was the way that Uncle Iroh responded to his list of apparent crimes:

"No matter what I am accused of, I will always believe that I have chosen the right path in life, and cheerfully invited others to join me in happiness, although they don't always agree to come along."

Zuko felt that claw at his throat like poisons, and he shuddered and looked at his feet. He couldn't see Iroh's face anymore. The shame devoured him, and Azula, standing next to him, didn't seem to be bothered by any of it.

In fact, she just looked as if she wouldn't mind getting back in her palanquin and going for a ride.

He looked at her, and said, "What can I do to stop this?"

Azula lifted her eyebrows, loftily, and she replied, "Is precious Zuzu desperate for help? What makes you sure you can stop it?"

Zuko ignored the jibe. His mind was so focused on their Uncle's impending execution, he couldn't even imagine how long he had to stop the whole procession. He didn't know how much longer the talk would go on, before they made with the flame. He was freaking out, inside, and Azula wasn't helping.

He said, desperately, "You're a manipulative, scheming liar that everyone likes. You can do it, I know you can."

"Of course I can," Azula replied, "But for what reason? I enjoy seeing traitors brought to justice."

Zuko hesitated. He said, "I'll do anything. You name it, I'll do it. I'll do anything."

Azula let a smirk slide across her lips, and Zuko waited, with baited breath, for what she was going to reply with. She didn't say a word, and he just watched her, and then watched Iroh, and then watched Azula again. He was terrified, and then Azula lifted a hand. She placed it on his shoulder.

He stared at her, and she made eye contact with him, unblinking. Her eyes unfocused, suddenly, and he said, "Azula?"

She let out a short, rapid breath, and her other hand went to her ribs, and she clutched them gently. Zuko was alarmed, suddenly, and Zuko said, a bit louder, "Azula?!"

He said this so loud that everyone around them turned, and Mai and Ty Lee's eyebrows raised. Iroh looked their way, which caused Zuko great guilt, to show concern over Azula at _his execution_. And, most of all, the master of ceremony turned to look at them, which caused the rest of the crowd to peer in their direction.

Azula let out another pained breath, and she cringed, as if she were in a great deal of pain. Her hand on his shoulder tightened, and she started to bend at the knees.

"Azula, what's wrong?" he said, rightly surprised, and her eyes lifted to his, remarkably clear, though her chest heaved and her breath grew horrible to listen to. Her eyes locked on his, as if she were waiting for him to cue her, and he put an arm around her, to support her weight, and then her eyes rolled back into her head.

Her mouth dropped open, and her limbs slackened, and she fell against his chest and down still, and he caught her belatedly, having to fold to his own knees to support her. She made herself completely boneless, and she let out a very real hiss of pain when he brought an arm across her ribcage to hoist her up.

"Azula?" he repeated, and he felt genuinely freaked out. She didn't reply, her eyes closed, and he said, "Azula! Azula!"

His heart was beating fast, and Mai and Ty Lee flocked around him, as did several others in the area. The speaker left his podium near Iroh in a rush, with a loud call of "Someone fetch the healers, the Princess has collapsed!"

There was a flurry everywhere, and even the war ministers were paying more attention to Azula than Iroh. In the chaos, with Azula drawn across his lap and so many people, and Ty Lee being stupid and Mai being calm, Zuko was trying to see Iroh through the sea of legs, but he couldn't.

He said, to some General kneeling down to lift Azula from his lap, "Won't you stop the ceremony? Something's really wrong! The life of the Crown Princess is more important than a stupid execution!"

There didn't seem to be much agreement to this, but Azula was still alive, after all –– she didn't lift her head, but she did whisper something to the General, and before Zuko knew it, he was back at the Palace, Azula was whisked off to the healers for a problem that didn't actually exist, and the manacles on the post were hanging empty in the wind once more.



When he came into the room, he clapped his hands, slowly, almost sarcastically, and Azula propped herself up against her pillows, quite capably. She said, delicately, "You had quite the freak out when I collapsed, there, dear brother."

"I wasn't expecting you to do that," Zuko said, and he paused, long and hard. Then he said, awkwardly, "Thank you."

Azula didn't want to deal with the fact that he was thanking her -- he'd never done that before, and she didn't want him thinking she was charitable at all. So instead, she said, "You were so concerned I was actually suffering there. For a moment, you seemed genuinely upset that I was down. And here I thought you hated me."

"I knew you were acting," Zuko said, but she knew he was lying. She always knew when he was lying.

"Sure you did," Azula said, calmly. She smiled.

Zuko held that bittersweet gaze and then broke it with a "Fine, I believed it."

"See, I'm always right," she said.

"You sounded so convincing, that's all," Zuko said, still unwilling to admit defeat. "You sounded as if you were actually in pain from something."

"Because I was," Azula said, and Zuko opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off with a pointed, "I, unlike you, don't show off my wounds to everyone. But before you can even try to rub it in, yes, I got injured in a battle, due to an accident. You do _not need _to know the details."

"What did you injure?" Zuko inquired, anyway, and Azula sighed and leant back into her pillows, folding her hands behind her head. She stifled a yawn with one hand, and then resumed her relaxed pose.

"I cracked three ribs, believe it or not, and it restricts my mobility and breathing. That, dear brother, is why I've avoided using bending for the past weeks."

"That Waterbender girl that tough, now?" Zuko said, and then scoffed. Azula remembered that she and Zuko had never spoken about the fight itself, that evening, not even a thanks or an acknowledgement that the other was halfway decent at bending. "She wasn't too difficult for me. But when she caught ahold of your arm and legs, I thought you were in trouble."

"Trust me, the only reason why either of them had an advantage was because of my ribs' injuries, which I sustained the week before," Azula said. "When I breathe sharply, it hurts, and when you grabbed me around the ribs, it hurt even more. Easy as that."

Zuko didn't say anything, for a moment, and he sat down at the end of her bed. He said, "Why didn't you see healers?"

"Because the Earth kingdom is archaic, fire-style healing only cure the body of sickness, and I'm not going to find some random waterbender to fix a temporary problem?" Azula said, with a roll of her eyes. "At any rate, I'll give it a few more weeks, and then I'll be fine."

"Mm."

He turned to leave, shoulders squared, and she cut him off. "Alright, then, Zuko, one last thing before you go," Azula said. "I was wondering why you hate me so much."

She let it roll off her tongue, as smooth as fine silk, and she watched Zuko's shoulders lay back when she approached. When he said nothing, she smiled, and she reached up behind her to draw her hair into a top-knot. She held the tie betwixt her lips as she did, confident that Zuko wouldn't say anything.

He didn't. He was too busy staring at her with that nasty look, the one that could curdle milk. Not that it struck fear into anything but the smallest man, anyway, but Azula didn't like it. She preferred that the eyes on her were either offering challenge or adoring her, and she knew well enough that Zuko offered no challenge.

The lack of love in his eyes spoke volumes to her, about his loyalties.

When she had finished tying up her hair, she tilted her head to ease her neck of a kink, and only then did Zuko manage to scrape together an angered, "You keep ruining my life."

That made her lift her chin and narrow her eyes like nothing else. She raised her eyebrows and let a soft breath out of her nose. Zuko waited on tenterhooks, his teeth grit, for her to say "Whatever have I done to you? Granted, I lied once or twice. But every problem you've ever had, you've done to yourself. In fact, all these years, who do you think it was digging you out of trouble?"

"Uncle Iroh," Zuko said, sharply, "It was _Uncle_, not you. You never helped me."

Azula could have laughed, but she didn't. She was controlled in every aspect of her life as a teenager, flawless, from poise to personality. Azula was, in the eyes of many, potentially the greatest potential ruler the Fire nation had ever seen. At fifteen, she was remarkable. Zuko was just a tiny stone eclipsing her radiance, until she chose to burn him out of her path.

But gone was the child who could shriek in laughter at the slightest nasty thing.

"Never?" she said, with the mildest of surprised tones. "Ungrateful as always. You never embraced what potential you had. If Mother had left sooner, perhaps you'd be more useful, Zuzu."

"Because she _cared_ for me, unlike Dad, who just treated me as a disappointment?" Zuko said, testily.

Azula's hardened heart could not even soften for this. She paused, long and difficult, and then she said, "She never let you grow a backbone of your own, and that's why you continue to disappoint Father today. Maybe if she had met your failures with a cold shoulder, you would have grown a pair, but no. She rewarded your failure with sympathy and soft, gentle words."

Zuko couldn't hit someone sick in bed, Azula or not, liar or not, insulting his mother and himself or not. He just glared at her, glowering as viciously as he could, and he said, "Don't talk about Mom that way."

Azula just stared at him, elegant even in a simple robe and in her great big bed, amongst all the crimson and gold linens and silks. She was grand. She said, "She raised you to be a fool, Zuko. I'm so glad she's gone –– probably rotting in a ditch. Serves her right, choosing the weak over the strong."

Zuko wondered if that was jealousy, or Azula wanting to take everything he had, especially the things she didn't have, just to hurt him. He didn't doubt it, his anger was so palpable, and he could only rise to his feet and demand, "Stop it."

"Make me," Azula said, and she folded her hands across her lap and let out a sigh. She continued, "Now please go, I'd like to rest now. I'll summon you when Father is ready to speak with us."

Zuko let out a disgusted scowl and he turned on his heel, and marched right out of the room.



"Made a deal with the devil, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko had spent a great deal of his life looking down on people, but here, he could only look down on his own two feet, at two perfectly polished boots. Zuko couldn't lift his eyes, he could only stand there with his shoulders down and his hands curled into fists. He stared at the murky old floor of the prison with contempt, wanting nothing more than to melt into its worn old cracks and leak away into nothing.

"To save your life," Zuko said defensively, utterly hurt by how disappointed Iroh sounded in him, and Iroh reached over, through the bars, and he fixed two knuckles under Zuko's chin and lifted his face, to look at him in the eyes. Zuko could barely hold the gaze.

Zuko let his Uncle do this, and then he jerked his face away when Iroh said, "Prince Zuko, I am ashamed of you."

"I made a mistake, Uncle," Zuko said, and he hated how his voice came out angry, all defensive, and he wished that Iroh would just ignore him so he never had to confirm that he had ruined his uncle's faith in him. He wished Iroh would stop looking at him, would stop staring at him like he was a horrible nephew.

Zuko was a horrible nephew.

Zuko said, "Stop looking at me like that, I know I can't change what happened, and now I owe Azula, and it's going to cost me everything."

Uncle Iroh just shook his head and kept on watching. Zuko moved away from the bars, he turned his back on Iroh, and then he turned back to face him once more. He said, "I know I can't ever repay you for everything you've done for me, but..."

Zuko stopped there, embarrassed and flustered all of a sudden, and he said, angrily, "I'm sorry, okay, stop looking at me like that." He dug in his pockets, frantically, and he pulled out a single key on a ring, the key to the cell. He said, "Just take it and get out before they execute you."

He shoved it towards Iroh, and when he didn't take it, Zuko pushed it against his chest. Only then did he finally take it, and hold it between his huge palm and his chest, clasped over his heart.

Zuko made for the door, angry and disappointed and self-loathing. He only glanced back when Uncle Iroh said, "I won't help you run away this time, Prince Zuko, if you're only going to run back."

But Zuko wasn't sure, and all he could is leave and then run, run as fast as he could back to the Palace, before anyone caught him. He couldn't possibly be late for his first meeting with his Father in over three years.



"You've forgotten how to dress yourself," Azula said, curtly, and she seemed extremely displeased, as if the mere thought of him appearing sloppy disgusted her. On one hand, Zuko would have expected that she would enjoy looking pristine next to his ruggedness, but apparently that wasn't the case. His imperfection, it seemed, would offset her perfection.

Zuko replied, "I know how to dress myself." He avoided tacking on a "stupid" at the end of that.

"Clearly, you don't," Azula said, "or else your collar would be on the right way."

Zuko looked down at himself, and realized, oh, he_ did_ have his collar on backwards, and that was hardly an easy mistake to make. He grumbled and fumbled with the clasps, and Azula let out a "tch". Zuko said, feeling her impatience, "I have other things on my mind."

"Obviously," Azula said, "but some show of impressing Father, if you appear like a slacker."

He could barely stop her from fixing his clothes herself – she was obviously in a mood to please their father, and he could only stand there while she straightened up the wrist cuffs of his robe and shifted the sash. She even reached up to fix his hair, and with a look of disgust on her face, she said, "Why would you ever let your hair grow so barbaric?"

"People would notice the Fire nation hairstyle," Zuko said, "and I just didn't get around to cutting it often enough, and it's not long enough to go into the topknot yet."

Azula shook her head and mumbled something about the Earth kingdom that Zuko didn't quite get, but he uncomfortably let her fumble with his stubby topknot and coax it into looking presentable, but still some bits were too short to catch, so they fell out and stuck up at weird angles, falling over his forehead and around his ears.

She said, "Ugh, you'll never be perfect, there's always something going wrong with you."

"Shut up," he mumbled, under his breath, and she stopped readjusting the collar of his shirt to look up at him, with vicious gold eyes. He didn't like that, so he turned his eyes towards the ceiling and bitterly said, "But then again, how could I, next to you?"

She said, with a red-lipped smirk, "True."

He sighed, angry and exasperated, and she said, "You've even got your robe folded backwards. Zuko, I don't know what you expect to impress Father with. He doesn't like nervousness, if you've forgotten." She let out a sigh, one that was condescending as ever, and she refolded it. Her nails just barely grazed the bare skin of his chest as she did, and he closed his eyes.

"I don't know," Zuko said.

"That's right," Azula said, "I killed the Avatar, I overturned Ba Sing Se, and Uncle's capture belongs to me, as well. For all you know, Father may look at you and have you killed for returning to the Fire nation after being banished. You must be growing desperately homesick, brother."

Zuko didn't say anything, and Azula brought her lips to his ear to whisper, "But don't worry. If you're so desperate, I'll secure you a place in our world."

He was so painfully aware of her claws on his collarbone, where they held the lip of his collar against his skin, and the proximity of her mouth to his ear. Their cheeks were practically brushing, he could feel her breath as she let out an amused little noise and brought her other hand to rest on his shoulder.

She said, calmly, "Are you desperate, brother?"

He swallowed the dryness in his throat and nodded, and she pulled away. She tucked in his collar properly and stepped away, to give him an inspection. When she seemed satisfied, she said, with a look that told him he'd be paying for her favours for the rest of his life, "If you didn't have me, you'd be dead, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe," Zuko said, his eyes narrowing. He had to clench his teeth to keep himself from spitting out angry remarks, because he knew that Azula really was all that was keeping him safe under the dangerous umbrella of Fire Lord Ozai's rule.

He said, after a moment of silent contemplation, "Was Father really ready to let Grandfather kill me so he would become Fire Lord?"

That was the exact moment that a servant arrived to tell them that their father was ready to see them, so their conversation was cut short, but Zuko kept his eyes trained on Azula with some sort of desperate need for an answer. He waited, and as the servant left and Azula brushed by the great wooden doors, she finally glanced back at him, so calmly, with a look that was surprisingly lacking in cruelty, "Of course he was."

It wasn't pity she used with him, but it was rather more like the way a child would feel when he or she was threatened with having a rather unloved (but still appreciated) toy taken away forever. The child got over it and eventually forgot about it entirely, but they always sort of wished it were there, so that they might be able to throw it around, even if it was to the dogs.

The thought alone brought his tumultuous gut to a crux, where it twisted and turned more violently. Zuko felt like he was going to vomit.

When the servant held open the door for him, he did exactly that.



"He was so worried he threw up?" Ty Lee squeaked, her eyes widening so that Azula could see the whites all the way around.

Azula just nodded, but she couldn't bring herself to be smug over it. Had Zuko done that and she wasn't hinging on him looking presentable to their father, she would have laughed and rubbed in how pathetic he was, but he had chosen the wrong time to get so sick.

"Father wasn't impressed when I showed up before him all alone, but I explained that Zuko felt too shamed to face him. We're going to see him tonight, at dinner," Azula said, and then she paused to say, "I hope he remembers his etiquette and keeps his stomach to himself, because I'd like to enjoy my dinner."

"Ew," Mai commented, dryly.

"That's so gross," Ty Lee said, "I mean, really, he must be so scared! It's a good thing he didn't pee his pants."

"Can we stop talking about Zuko's bodily functions? It's disgusting," Mai complained. "I'd rather just relax. So is Zuko a prince again or what?"

"Yeah, Azula," Ty Lee pushed, "Tell us! What did the Fire Lord say about that, huh?"

Azula shrugged and closed her eyes. She said, casually, "After much discussion, Father said that Zuko was to be welcomed back as a prince, and nothing more. For now, the crown is still going to be mine. Father is sure of that."

That was true, but Azula didn't mention that her father had seemed reluctant. That was unnecessary, and she didn't need Ty Lee cooing over a problem.

Azula folded her arms and turned to rest them against the ledge of the hotspring's pool. She rested her chin on her arms, sprawled across her seat, and Mai let out a discreet yawn, covered by one hand. Ty Lee wasn't so calm – she leapt up from her seat, splashing out of the water, and she said, loudly, "He's such a doofus!"

Mai lifted one arm to stop her hair from getting wet, and she said, "Watch it, Ty Lee."

"Sorry," she apologized, sheepishly, taking her seat again.

"If we hadn't torched and looted all of Ba Sing Se, I'd be hoping we'd go there for a bit of fun," Azula said, "I'm not exactly keen on spending the next few weeks in the snow. I hope you own clothes, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee blinked and asked, curiously, "Where's snow?" Then she paused and said, excitedly, "I've never seen snow! Omigosh, are we going now? Why?!"

"Up North," Mai said, pointedly. "Think about it for a second. The Avatar is dead, so…"

She seemed to take a moment to piece this together, in that ditzy way of hers, holding her chin in one hand and staring off into the distance blankly. Then, her eyes focused, and she launched herself at Azula with a giddy shriek. Azula barely made the effort to move, still comfortable on her hot tub perch, and Ty Lee landed quite on top of her, with her arms around Azula's neck. She pressed her cheek to Azula's and giggled.

"The North Pole! We're going to the North Pole!" she enthused, and Azula reached up to pat Ty Lee on the forearm, the vaguest of smiles gracing her lips. Ty Lee eventually let go, splashing away in the water, to hug Mai.

"I'm afraid it's going to be a challenge for you two," Azula said, and she glanced at her nails. They were translucent in the water. She said, "Knives and pressure points will be a bit difficult with heavy coats in the way."

"I'm sure I can aim at the face," Mai drawled.

"Me, too!" Ty Lee enthused.

"Then it's settled," Azula said, rolling over in the water. She brought a hand back and through her hair, leaving wet streaks, and then let out a relaxed breath. Ty Lee continued to giggle and chatter on.

"So are we going to queue the North Pole, too, all on our own?" Ty Lee asked, hopefully, and Mai mumbled a corrective "coup" in Ty Lee's direction. Ty Lee smiled, and then looked back to Azula, curiously.

"Not this time," Azula said, "I was thinking, for the fall of the last free city, we should smear them into the pages of history like never before. An undercover overthrow won't be needed: we'll bring in armies and armies, every fighter who has a pulse. It'll take a week or two for the forces to get a rendezvous time set up, so we don't have to set out for a while."

"Sounds boring," Mai replied, "So they're going to do all the work for us? How lame."

"Now, Mai," Azula said, calmly, and she smirked, "I'm sure there are more than a few accomplished waterbenders we could destroy."

"That'd be nice, but with my luck I doubt it'll happen," Mai drawled.

"I can't wait!" Ty Lee grinned, and she sank into the water up to her forehead, only to burst up again with another magnificent splash of hot water. Mai grumbled and covered her hair with her arms, and Azula turned her face away, but it did little to protect either from getting soaked to the scalp.



Zuko hadn't been able to sleep.

For hours, he had stared at the canopy on his bed. It didn't move, it just kept the same long shadows creased into the drapes. If he looked closely, he could see that the shapes they formed, twisted across his roof, in the forms of ghosts and devils.

It was eerie, but he didn't want to move from where he was, deep in his blankets and pillows. Despite how he couldn't sleep, he felt too exhausted to move, too. His limbs hurt. His face hurt, the usual ebb he'd felt for three years now. His heart hurt.

Three years, and now he was lying in his bed for the first time since being banished.

He lifted his head when his bedroom door opened, and he squinted at the silhouette in the doorway. It was slender, feminine, and his stomach twisted uncomfortably. She seemed to hesitate at the door, and then she moved from it, coming towards him.

"Azula?" he said, suspiciously, sitting upright. The female slid towards him, and sat down on the edge of the bed. She pressed a kiss to his cheek, and so close, he wasn't concerned. He corrected himself, with a surprised, "Mai."

"I couldn't sleep," she said, and he blew over his shoulder with a haphazard hand gesture, and the candles on his bedposts illuminated with flame immediately. With her face thrown into such relief, and the shadows on his ceiling gone, his stomach stopped doing somersaults in his gut. Mai said, calmly, "Nor could you, it seems."

She had one of those dark, deep feminine voices, the kind that was really easy to listen to. Zuko nodded, and relaxed when she brought an arm around his neck and pushed her lips against his cheek, going out of her way to ensure that she didn't touch any of his scar tissue. That was awkward, and hurtful in some way, despite how much he understood why she wouldn't want to touch it.

She'd seen him scarred, but he got the impression she liked to pretend it never happened. He couldn't deny the idea was nice, but it was a part of him forever.

Back on his throne, back at home, he had been hoping for some magical solution to all his problems. He had been hoping that all his mistakes would be wiped away, all would be atoned for. And although he had known there would be no instant solution, no scar-be-gone and no sacred waters to remove the mark, a part of him had hoped there would be.

"It's strange, being back home," he replied, "I remember everything like the back of my hand, but it all seems so much smaller, even my bed feels smaller."

"It's not smaller, you're just bigger," Mai replied. She held onto him, still, one hand ghosting to his cheek and holding his face to look into her eyes.

"Yeah," Zuko said, despite the obviousness of the statement. He let out a long breath. Mai just gave a funny smile and took his hands.

"Let's go for a walk, then," she said. It wasn't an offer or a suggestion. Even as she said it, she slid off the edge of the bed to be on her feet, and she pulled him towards her. He kicked the blankets off his legs, realizing she very well could drag him right off the edge of the bed if he didn't, and he slid to his feet next to her.

She let go of his hands to grab his robe and she tossed it at him. He pulled it over his shoulders almost grudgingly, closing it at his waist and lashing the sash together to hold it closed over his loose pants.

"Any place in mind?"

"We could just go down to the garden," she said, "there won't be anyone there at this hour."

"Very well," he said, politely. She didn't really wait, once again, and she took his arm and forcibly linked it with hers. Zuko let her lead him off, his other hand drifting to cover the hand rested by the crook of his elbow. Despite her pushiness, she still blushed when he did this.

Off they went, through the winding halls. They drifted by guards and sentries, and Zuko realized that Mai was actually dressed, and not just wearing sleeping robes. That was a small bit of embarrassment, to march around the place as if he owned it while out of formal dress, especially when they had only docked in the Fire nation that morning. It seemed cocky and overbold to assume he was here for more than a night.

When he passed the sentries, one gave a slight grunt of disgust, and the other did the same, albeit more muffled. Zuko stopped and looked at them, sharply, and meant to tell them off for whatever they were snickering over, but Mai pulled him on her way.

"Ignore them," she said, "you aren't very popular, as you could have guessed."

He'd never been terribly popular to begin with, when Azula started taking all the limelight, but now it was even worse. Zuko forced himself to look away from them, and Mai dutifully kept him going towards the gardens.

"I didn't think so," he grumbled, and he caught her eye. She smiled, and then pointed at something. He followed the gesture and his eyes landed on the fountain. "Yes?"

"The fountain," she stated, calmly, "that's where you and I met as little kids."

He didn't really understand what mattered about it, or why she was bringing it up, but he humoured her. He said, "I remember."

She nodded, once and continued, "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, sure seems like it," Zuko said, "It's been over three years since I've been here... it's just so strange." He felt like a broken record, and Mai didn't seem to appreciate this much. So he said, "I thought he was going to banish me again, Mai. I just couldn't go. But my stomach, ha ha... you'll never believe it."

Mai said, "Azula told us."

Zuko felt himself grow hot in the face and he said, "Uh, yeah."

Mai didn't say anything, again, so Zuko said, "But, well... think of it. Some day, I could be Fire Lord. If Father crowns me as Crown Prince again, that is. If Azula will step down."

"Yeah," Mai said, flatly. "Maybe."

"Yeah," he repeated, "I always thought I'd end up there, but for the longest time, it's seemed hopeless. I don't know, Mai, the more I think about it, the more I realize I don't know anything about running a nation! Or leading a war! I grew up hearing stories but no one bothered to teach me how, it was always Father teaching Azula. When I'm Fire Lord, I don't know what I'll do."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and then Mai brought her hand up to his cheek and straightened his face to look at her better. She asked, "Have you brushed your teeth, since?"

"Er... yeah?" Zuko replied, confused, because at first, he hadn't realized she was talking about the unpleasant business from earlier that day.

And then Mai kissed him. For a moment, he resisted, taken off-guard, and then like any doofus boy, he kissed her right back with much enthusiasm.

But it wasn't really all that great, because his mind flittered elsewhere time and again, over and over and over again, until she dragged him back to his bedroom, sometime around when dawn approached.



Over breakfast, Azula glanced up at him and said, conversationally, "So Uncle disappeared from his cell last night."

Zuko had the good nature to just shrug, say "oh", and go back to his rice.



After a brief encounter with her father, Azula was not in a cheery mood.

"I don't know what we're going to do about Zuko," Azula announced, as she entered the lounge. Ty Lee sat up, appearing over the back of the couch, and Mai barely lifted her head from where she lay on a giant overstuffed pillow on the floor. Ty Lee greeted her perkily, even curiously, and Mai just waved one hand briefly.

That wasn't exactly the reaction she was looking for. Azula repeated, pointedly: "Zuko, Mai."

"What about him?" Mai asked, and this time she did prop herself up on her elbows. Her pale cheeks were stained the slightest of pinks, and Azula took this as a victory.

"Father has demanded that Zuko join us on our expedition to the North Pole. It seems he knows the layout, and the secret ways in, and once Father knew that much, he insisted that Zuko go along," Azula explained. "I don't want him there to screw things up."

"Then we'll use what he knows and otherwise keep him out of the way," Mai suggested.

"I know!" Ty Lee chirped, "We could make him go in first."

"Of course we could," Azula said, "but that would mean having to deal with him, and frankly…"

She trailed off. To give Zuko the credit he was due for expectedly helping her with the coup? Had Zuko never shown up, she might have been overwhelmed by the Avatar and his waterbending friend, but she doubted that. Yet Zuko had made a few things possible, hadn't he?

"Zuko did do his part in the fall of Ba Sing Se," Azula said, grudgingly, "but he very nearly could have screwed up everything for us, particularly with the Avatar. Had he pulled some stupid little stunt, he could have ruined everything we worked for."

"You would have been outnumbered if Zuko hadn't helped you," Mai remarked, far more abrasive than she intended. Azula bristled.

"I had the Dai Li with me," Azula corrected, testily, "even if something had gone wrong, I would have emerged victorious. Do NOT insult me with such suggestions."

"I see," Mai said, calmly, and she glanced down at her book. Azula cocked an eyebrow, and watched Ty Lee's smile curve into a sudden frown, only to burst back into a big smile seconds later. Her eyes widened, settled on something over Azula's shoulder.

So awkwardly, Ty Lee sang out a not-so-friendly, "Heeey…"

Azula turned, to find herself face to face with Zuko. He was holding the door open, and Azula was involuntarily surprised for about a second, and then she shifted back into her usual self. One hand drifted to her hip and she cocked her head, the wicked smirk settling on her lips again.

"Hello," Zuko said, and then, cutting off Azula's reply of "hello", he continued with a curt, "Father sent me to discuss the plans for the North Pole."

"Speak of the devil," Azula said, "Unfortunately, you won't be needed. Go feed the ducks, Zuzu, and let us big girls concern ourselves with the military."

Zuko didn't take this kindly. His eyes widened briefly and his eyebrow lifted. With his hair shaggy in his face, he looked rather wild like this, and Azula took a disgusted step back when he snapped at her. "I don't want to go feed the turtleducks! I want to help with the invasion! Father said I was leading it, and to start planning with you, so here I am."

Azula didn't take this news about Zuko leading it himself too kindly, either. She frowned, in disbelief, and said, "You? Leading?" She gave a snort of laughter and she continued, "Oh _please_ Zuko, you couldn't lead an honourable life, let alone lead thousands of men and women."

"Shut up," Zuko snapped, but there was definitely an element of pleasure to his voice, knowing he had something above her. "I'm the first-born son, it's my duty and birthright, Father said so."

Any amusement Azula was feeling over how pathetic Zuko was, any bit of pleasure, it was all washed away with that one comment. She didn't exactly believe him – after all, their father had never been one to care about duties and birthrights – but that doubt lingered in her mind immediately, like a tall shadow cast clear over her head. She stared at Zuko, silent for a moment, and then she said, calmly, "Did he?"

Zuko nodded, almost triumphantly, and Azula's mind was working too fast for her to reply. Would their father really dare suggest such a thing? For almost a decade, Father had loved her more than Zuko, appreciated her more than Zuko, thought of her as his perfect child and Zuko as his failure of a son. Zuko's banishment and shame had only secured this, and now, Azula was regretting having ever, ever dared to clear Zuko's name and bring him home.

For all upbringing suggested, _she_ was the first born. _She_ was the one working for everything.

"I can kill the Avatar child, now," Zuko said, "That's why I'm leading."

Azula's anger flared, right there, but she didn't let it show. She felt the crackle of fire on her fingers but she couldn't seem to coax it into pure lightning. Zuko's single comment had awakened an angry doubt in her, and she struggled to keep it under control. She dry-swallowed, and then looked at him with cold amber eyes.

"Why would he help you find the new Avatar?" she said.

Zuko said, in one long breath, "Father has welcomed me home, Azula. I'm to be Crown Prince again, as my birthright dictates."

Azula stopped herself from killing him right there, from plunging her power right into his gut and face, from scarring him worse than before. But moreso, she just wanted to express this anger to her father, to demand why he had said such things. Zuko wouldn't have lied – he just wasn't capable of lying, he was poor at it, he wasn't a manipulator or cunning. It just wasn't his nature.

"Excuse me," she said, curtly, and she brushed by him more edgily than she intended. He watched her go, and she didn't look back. As she rounded the corner and headed directly for the throne room, she heard Ty Lee make one last remark at her brother before she was out of earshot entirely.

"Is snow fun to play in?"



"Father," Azula said, her voice almost warm, for that instant. She knelt down, but she kept her back straight and her head up, for a moment. He watched her, carefully, and with a smile she sank into the bow she should have given before she dared speak.

Her palms splayed against the floor, her arms outstretched, she waited, always dutiful. And then, after a moment, she rose herself up, before he commanded her to rise. She had the pleasure of watching his mouth curve down, and his eyebrows dip into a frown.

"Daughter," he said, slowly, "do you find yourself in a hurry today?"

"I do find myself a bit rushed," she said, simply. "Forgive me."

There was no forgiving to be done, and Azula didn't expect it in the first place, specifically because she had ordered him to, not asked him to. His frown worsened, like any father might frown at his favourite child. Azula knew that if Zuko had done the same, he would have been reprimanded.

But Azula wasn't.

"What hurries you, Princess Azula?" Lord Ozai asked, calmly. Azula smiled.

"With the city of Ba Sing Se penetrated and violated, and every other great city fallen into our hands, there is only one opponent left. You decided that Zuko would lead the army, but I would like to remove them myself."

"The Northern Water tribe," Lord Ozai replied, knowingly, "General Zhao failed to ruin them. Other than the Fire nation, they remain the last pillar of strength for the barbarians, and they hide the new Avatar. Zuko has offered to lead the invasion, and I have decided that it is appropriate that he lead, to prove his honour to me. And what do you expect to do about that, daughter?"

"Dear father," Azula said, and she sat taller. She said, "I'm afraid I have two options before me."

"Go on."

"Simply," Azula said, "I could launch an invasion before Zuko's and send them to their knees, and then finish them off when the time comes. The North Pole would be a barren wasteland of cold, with no people, Zuko's command or not."

Lord Ozai nodded, slowly, and then he said, "And the other option?"

"I'm afraid it may not cater to your liking, father," Azula said, almost apologetic, but at the same time, her voice took a slightly vicious edge. It was like sarcasm, but not quite so vicious. She paused, long and hard, and when he bade her to explain anyway, she said, "Someone else could lead an invasion, which would result in failure, and shame on the Fire nation. It would leave the barbarians with hope. It would result in wasted time, wasted finances, and wasted effort."

Lord Ozai didn't reply for a moment, and then he said, "Are you implying not one of my Generals could bring the North Pole to its knees, let alone my _son_?"

There was no measure for how she wished her father would say _daughter_ the way he said _son_.

"Quite frankly, I am," Azula said, casually, "does it not speak volumes of your military if your teenaged daughter can topple mountains, while your older and longer trained Generals struggle to scale small hills? We've always known I am a prodigy, but stupidity and cowardice in your Generals is never a good thing. And, on top of it all: I lied when I said Zuko was strong, before. He's still as malleable as he ever was, still easy to destroy."

Her father's next breath came almost angrily, and he said, "You toe the line boldly, daughter."

"And for a just reason, father," Azula said, and she rose to her feet, standing tall and prompting Lord Ozai to stand up, too. His face contorted in anger when she continued, "An army's success reflects on its leader. Surely, you understand that by now?"

"Ba Sing Se fell under my rule," Lord Ozai said, loftily, "and no child of mine will call me a failed leader. Get out of my sight before I give you a reason to cry."

"Ba Sing Se fell because I told it to," Azula replied. "Omashu, as well. Your armies were doing nothing useful until I stepped in and corrected them. Certainly, to be a respectful Fire Lord, one has to make intelligent decisions."

"Get out of my sight," Lord Ozai hissed, "before I remove that traitorous mouth."

"Only if I can remove yours," Azula replied, deftly, and she began walking forward. She gave a hard breath, preparing herself, and she felt the heat in her double. Her fingers sparked, and she said, before he could reply, "What will you do, father? Mark my face as I prostrate myself before you, loyal and pathetic like a dog?"

"How dare you!"

"How dare I," Azula agreed, "I have enjoyed this privilege."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked out, with her chin high. She waited to hear the call to stop, or the call to be banished, or marked, or the call for an Agni Kai, but when it didn't come, she smirked to herself and kept going.

Now was not the time.



Zuko couldn't sleep.

At the time, he had felt on top of the world, getting to lord his birthright over his younger sister, for the first time in his life. Since he was a child, he had been told it was his birthright, and he had always hoped it would come true, but with Azula there, it had always brought him nothing but anguish and doubt. Zuko didn't know right from wrong here, anymore, and when his father had told him he was going to be his successor after all, Zuko was filled with an unstoppable joy.

He had been able to rub it in Azula's face, and he had relished the anger on her.

"I'm going to be Fire Lord," he told himself, rolling over so he was almost speaking against his pillow. He dragged the covers higher over his shoulders, so they fell over his neck and threatened to smother him, but he didn't care.

As a small child, he had always believed that any part of him sticking out from under the blankets was susceptible to monster attacks, so he had always relied on his bed's blankets as comfort. Now, though, at eighteen, he was considering the same thing. He was too hot under the blankets, but he didn't dare push them off, as he knew there was a demon around.

She was lingering by the door, in fact, with her arms folded and her shoulder against the doorframe. She said nothing, so he didn't either. She just watched him, cold and calm.

It was that same expressionless anger he had felt when she had returned from their father's throne room. It was that same quiet determination, as if she had been slighted but had mostly corrected the issue. Their father hadn't revoked his plan to make Zuko his heir, and Azula no longer seemed angry about it. Zuko wondered, vaguely, if their father knew how to control Azula, to comfort her and make her understand why she couldn't succeed him.

Zuko didn't want to know. He feared that answer, loathed it, and just didn't want to know. But Azula's eyes on him were vicious and dangerous, cold and calculating, and even then, in his bed, he felt trapped. He felt as though if he moved, he would have his limbs torn away and he'd be dragged under the bed like a rag doll.

Azula had such terrible claws, anyway.

She no longer seemed to be angry over losing the title of Crown Princess, but Zuko still felt the danger on her breath. When she had returned from the throne room, she had done nothing else to him but invite him to plot with her for the North Pole, but he had felt her eyes boring holes into him, he had felt that distinct smugness about her, as if she knew much more than he did, as if it was a secret that his life depended on. She had said, offhandedly, "When's the coronation?" but she hadn't inquired further. It was quite obvious she already knew, so he couldn't be sure of why she was doing it.

Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, tucking his chin down so the blankets came up to his disfigured ear, and Azula shifted in the doorway, like a bored cat waiting for its prey to surface. Zuko didn't dare more move. Azula stood up straight, taking her shoulder off its rest, and she stared at him with some sort of know-it-all smile.

He wondered if she had a knife slipped between her sleeve and her skin, or tucked into the folds of her sash. He wondered if, the moment he fell asleep, he'd wake up again to find himself bleeding out, but no one would know it, because the blood would be barely visible on those dark crimson sheets. He didn't know if Azula was capable of doing something like that.

He knew she was physically capable, but he wanted to know if she _would_.

Sometime around four in the morning, Azula disappeared from her spot by the door, and Zuko waited for some time before he dared go to sleep. When he woke up sometime around five, she was back, but he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him: for a moment, in his sleepy stupor, he had believed that his mother was there, watching over him. Exhausted, he didn't fret over it.

Needless to say, Zuko went back to sleep comfortably.



Zuko may have slept well, but he awoke to a different Azula. Not a better one, not an honest and caring one, but a woman scorned. He sat down to breakfast on his own, having woken far too early, and he hadn't been there for more than a minute when Azula's voice rang out, "Dismissed. Wait outside, I'll send for you when I'm finished."

The servants scattered, and Zuko didn't dare turn around. He just ground his fingers against his armrest and braced himself.

"You seem so conflicted, brother," Azula said, passively, as if it were nothing. Zuko had been ready for some sort of conversation like this, and every time she walked into the same room as him from now on, he would be on his guard. His shoulders would straighten, he would grow bold and demanding, and Azula would drive his challenge.

"I'm not conflicted," Zuko said. He didn't look up from his seat, because he could feel her standing right behind his seat. As if to solidify his feelings, he stated, "I know my destiny and I'm taking it."

"Are you?" Azula drawled, "It didn't look like that to me."

Zuko felt a knot of fear twist in his stomach, and he said, rashly, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I saw you in the garden with Mai last week," Azula said, casually. She rounded the seat and placed one hand on the armrest, her hand pale against the velvet upholstery. Zuko tightened his jaw and she smiled, her vicious nails grazing the fabric slowly.

"So?"

"I figured you'd want to talk with me about being Fire Lord, now that it's actually going to happen," she said. The faux-sweetness on her voice was revolting, positively revolting, and the knot in his stomach wrenched. He closed his eyes to concentrate.

"Not really."

She shifted again, her hand following the contour of the seat up the back of it, so her clawed hand rested right behind his neck. Her hip moved towards him, and she perched herself on the armrest not unlike a temptress, albeit one who had more to do with words and bloodletting than anything. Her back arched. She leant over him, and he kept his face forward. He refused to look at her, but he did move his arm from her way. She folded one leg over the other.

"When Father dies, you'll be Fire Lord," she said, silkily, "and then what will you do? You've never been one to sit in war rooms and make intelligent decisions. What will possibly be done about the war, if Sozin's comet doesn't end it before then?"

Zuko was silent for a moment, feeling the burn, and then he said, "I'm sure I can find someone to aid me. Someone with military prowess, someone worthy of the title of General."

Azula seemed to wait, but he didn't give it to her. No, Zuko would rather have her dead or harmless. Not a single thing could pressure him into giving her what she wanted, not when he was finally in a position of power.

But the more power he gained in the Fire nation, again, the more she seemed to pressure him. The more her demands increased, the more bullying she did. He didn't quite know what to make of tomorrow, because of this. He'd be the Crown Prince by tomorrow, stealing away her precious title from her, and surely, it wouldn't remain a game of petty insults.

Azula was dangerous and looming.

"Can you?" she said.

"Yes," he replied.

She leaned, so that her hand slid around the back of the chair, and her arm was nearly around his shoulders. Her lips were inches from his ear this way, slick with poison, and she said, calmly, "I know what hesitation lurks in your mind, Zuko."

"I don't have any hesitation," he said, curtly. He abandoned his attempt to stay calm, to stay relaxed, and he leant right out of her hold and turned his head to face her. Everything about her flawless features said that she was a thing to be reckoned with, and she took his lie with considerable grace.

"You don't?"

"No," he insisted.

"Oh, Zuko," she said, her voice rising from its calmness into something higher, something that didn't even attempt to mask its own viciousness. She said, "You'll be Crown Prince by sundown and I'll go back to being merely Princess, and you'll take all the first-born power from my second-hands. Why do you fear me, with such power in your grip?"

It was a valid question. Zuko stared at her, afraid his eyes were betraying him and showing fear, and then he realized that he was, in all actuality, nearly to the point of shaking. She pushed forward, and he leant back, but when he opened his mouth to reply, she sat back and slid from her seat on his armrest.

"Don't fret, brother," Azula said, smoothly. "You've won your place fairly. Of course I won't interfere with what father has commanded. I am, after all, his loyal daughter. I'd never betray him."

Zuko wasn't so sure, but he couldn't speak. She had silenced him, somehow, and she gave him one last smile and a delicate "tch", and then turned and walked away, her hand slipping from the backrest with the sound of scratching nails on fabric.

He shook, and the old mantra returned to him.

_Azula always lies. Azula always lies._

With that he turned and looked at her, terrified, and he called "What are you planning?"

"Things that go over your head, brother. Trust me, agony's better than misery, you'll be much happier in the long run."

"I..." Zuko trailed, and Azula's lips parted slightly, baring the slightest sliver of teeth, in a victorious smirk. There was his stumble, his dying plunge to the death of opportunity. He figured that, as far as Azula was concerned, not even a miracle could save him, the instant he faltered like that. Zuko said, so confused and perhaps even full of dread, "I don't understand."

"That's quite alright," Azula said, blinking slowly, like a cat. "You will when the lights go out."

"The lights in the palace?" Zuko said, rapidly. His good eye widened, and the scarred one only shuddered open a notch wider. Azula only watched him, and Zuko said, "What do you mean? Which lights? What lights?"

"It means," Azula said, and she paused, just to make sure he was paying close attention. Zuko took a breath and leant forward, almost subconsciously, and she said, "you'll thank me later."



She meandered up to the guards, and smiled at them. She folded her hands in front of her, clutching two bottles of drink. When the guards gave her a wary look, she held them up like white flags.

"Dismissed," she said, smoothly, "go enjoy a drink or two."

The guards exchanged a look, and one of them said, "Princess Azula, my sincerest apologies, but we are ordered not to move as long as your father is sleeping within."

Her eyebrows sloped, though she had seen this as a possible roadblock, she hadn't expected it to actually happen. Her eyes shifted between the two guards, and she said, "Ah, I remember you. Do you still know how to breathe fire? Such a rare talent, so difficult to learn – in fact, I think I wish to see it again. If you won't show me again, you'll be sorry you ever disagreed."

She said it smoothly, almost in a purr, and the guards exchanged glances again. The one she addressed, with his roughly scarred mouth, looked terrified, and he brought a hand up to his gravelly, jagged chin as if to protect it from her acidic stare.

"No?" Azula prompted, and the guard shook his head. Azula said, "Well, then. I suppose it's easy to forget how, isn't it? I could remind you."

The guard squirmed, and then he stood up straight. It was if he had remembered his courage, suddenly, even in the face of such a formidable predator, and he straightened his shoulders and his mouth. He said, firmly, "No, Princess Azula. Go to bed, child."

Child. It came out unsavoury, and it was bitter on Azula's ears.

"Child?" she repeated, slowly.

"My apologies," the guard said, "I'm only doing what I was ordered to, by your honourable father, Fire Lord Ozai."

"Honourable father," Azula repeated, and then she said, "You address him with such servitude, such humility. Do you ever get tired of worshipping him like a god?"

There didn't seem to be a reply to that that wasn't worth saying while prostrate on one's belly. Azula savoured their moment, their moment of fear and confusion and worry, and then she offered the drinks.

"Now," she said, darkly, "You _will_ move aside, you _will_ grant me passage, and you _will_ drink what I've given you."

The scarred guard didn't move, but the other one nervously reached forward and took a bottle. He glanced at the scarred guard, apologetically, obviously to the point of sheer terror. Azula decided that, under her rule, she wouldn't employ cowards.

"Well?" she said, to the other guard, and then added, "Take it."

"No, Princess," he said, and his voice wavered.

"Pardon, I didn't hear you," Azula said. She had heard him perfectly fine.

"No," he said, louder, and her eyes narrowed.

"No?" she said, giving him one last chance, even though she had already made her choice on the first answer. He shook his head, firmly.

"No!" he said.

He was the blade of dried grass standing between the hunter and the hunted. He burned like dry grass, too, quickly and without much smoke at all. He didn't shriek or scream, because Azula zapped him right in the chest with one carefully placed strike, and he fell down, dead.

The remaining guard let out a strangled gasp, and Azula glanced at the extra bottle in her hand for a second, and then she offered it to him.

"I trust we won't have any interferences in the Royal business?" she said, smiling, and the guard just stared.

After a moment, he nodded regretfully, and struggled with tears. As Azula pushed open the door to her father's room, he fell to his knees at his dead friend's side, and quietly wept.

Azula didn't care, she had destiny to attend to.



Azula had known, for a long time, that she matched her father quite well in skill, if she didn't surpass him. While Ozai was no elderly man, he still lacked Azula's youth and flexibility, something that had faded while he spent long years letting his bones grow creaky on the seat of his throne.

And here, in his bed, wrapped up in the finest fabrics in the world, he was nothing but a sleeping old man. Azula stood at the foot of his bed, for a moment, feeling very much a part of her own world already. Her fingertips ghosted over the edge of the bed, and she quite clearly recalled being chastised by her mother, on her mother's last night.

She wondered, vaguely, if she'd get to do the same with her father.

She smiled, a rare smile that showed teeth. She waited, and decided to wake him up, and give him a final lesson in parenthood, and one last history lesson. So she perched herself on the foot of his bed and pinched his foot through the blankets.

He awoke slowly, groggily, and before he could really orientate himself, Azula said, calmly, "Did you really love Mother, or was it just a marriage of convenience? Because I told her something, before she disappeared, right in this very room."

Lord Ozai pushed himself to sit up, and he said, "How dare you wake me so?"

Azula ignored him and she said, "I'll do anything for our Nation, you know that, don't you, Father? Otherwise, why would I push myself so hard, every day? After all, I just want us to live up to the perfection we should be exhibiting."

"If you intended to beg to be Crown Princess again, you ought to be on your knees, you stupid girl," her father said. Azula wondered, vaguely, how Zuko had managed to topple her from being beloved to being the unwanted child within days. The fairer sex was certainly discriminated against, even in this fair nation.

Azula said, "I have no intention of kneeling."

"Then you best leave before you and your brother have things in common other than being my children," Lord Ozai said.

This was the last chance that Azula had, to back out of this plan, and she could no sooner take it than she could bow to anyone below her. She drew herself to sit up straight, and she said, as if he'd never offered anything, "You never did learn to bend lightening, did you?"

And when she plunged a dagger of lightening right into his chest, striking him dead after minimal thrashing. Nothing went wrong, there was no blood, but there certainly was an ugly mark on his pallid chest. It looked like a single burn, with a raised center, but spreading from it were feathery red marks, like ferns imprinted on the skin, where the smaller blood veins carried electrical current and burst. Arborescent in nature, absolutely beautiful, and yet the old man was dead. Those marks would fade within hours, leaving him with only the entry and exit points. That was fine with her.

As she turned to leave, she glanced back at him once, and she realized, quite suddenly, that he looked as if he were asleep. A smile ghosted over her lips, and she walked to his side, laying his slumped body down more naturally, and she pulled the covers up to his throat. She closed his eyelids, and surveyed his body carefully.

After a second thought, she pressed a kiss to his forehead, and as she left, she said to herself, quite calmly, "How _easy_ it is, then."


	6. Mind, Body

:) I'm getting these finished rather quickly. No, I don't write 19k in one day, but as of today, Dichotomy has been in progress for 75 days. This is roughly 1600 words a day, and you'd be surprised to learn that that's actually a very manageable number.

I opted not to do NaNoWriMo this year because of both a lack of time, and because, well... in the first two months, I really did do 100k words. I proved my own ability to write at length, then, and ever since, I've kept up a pace just slightly under NaNo standards. And I'm okay with that!

You'd be surprised at how much you can do if you're really, really chock full of ideas to write about.

Enough rambling! Time for chapter six: Mind-Body



**CHAPTER SIX: MIND-BODY**



When he awoke, every limb in his body felt stiff and sore. He opened his eyes, groggily, to find himself still propped up against the side of the cabin, only Toph was gone and there was a blanket thrown haphazardly over him. His bare feet were cold – they were poking out from under the edge.

He'd slept for a long time, judging by how the sun was up and bright in the sky, but he obviously hadn't slept comfortably or restfully at all. He still felt tired, and it hurt to bend his neck, but there wasn't anyone he could blame for that but himself.

Or he could blame Suki, for her tantrum, but that felt very unfair, to be putting the blame on her.

Ah, his mind focused. Suki. They'd saved her yesterday and she had kicked him out of the cabin. Well, Katara had, but that was beside the point. Suki hated him in some weird, creative way, and he could understand how "hate" had ever gotten into her vocabulary for him.

And he probably couldn't do much about it, he had failed her so miserably.

He sat up straight and stretched, his muscles complaining as he worked them back into co-operating. His shoulders ached. His back hurt. There was absolutely nothing he could do about that, either, except complain to Katara.

"Good morning," Toph said, as she came around the side of the place. She had two giant handfuls of red berries with her, and her hair was messily falling out of its usual hairdo. The look on her face was blank.

He took one look at her berries and wondered how she had picked them, but more importantly, he told her, "Those are poisonous."

Toph made an annoyed face and dropped the entire load to the ground with considerable spite. Sokka smiled, oddly, and she snapped, "Yeah, well, how was I supposed to tell? Just 'cause I can pick them doesn't mean I know what they are. Sugar Queen really needs to learn where to draw the line with these stupid chores!"

"Yeah, I guess," Sokka said, and the smile slid from his face suddenly. He asked, oddly, "Am I allowed in the house yet?"

"Suki's sleeping and so's Katara," Toph shrugged, "So as long as you're quiet, I guess? Fat chance you can pull that off, Obnoxious."

He wasn't sure where this new nickname had come from, and he wasn't about to ask. He shrugged it off and stood up, kicking the blanket off of him. He was still wearing his battle gear, and he pulled off the tunic and the shoulder pauldrons. It was considerably colder without them, but he waited before going inside: the wolf-head hood of his tunic had been squashed between him and the wall all night, and one ear was miserably crushed. He smoothed it out between his fingers, and then climbed to his feet, setting his things down on the blanket.

Sokka pushed open the door. The curtains were drawn, so it was dark. Over by the usual spot he could see his sister's sleeping form, bundled in _his_ sleeping bag, back to the door. Nearby was Suki, or whom he could assume was Suki, in Katara's sleeping back, flat on her back and seemingly asleep.

Figuring it was safe, he crossed the room on the balls of his feet, heading towards his stuff. He opened the closet as slowly as he could, to avoid making excessive noise, but as he was rummaging and pulling out a fresh shirt, he accidentally pulled his club down with it.

It landed on his foot. Luckily, as an object made for driving against skulls and not aimlessly dropping, it didn't hurt too much, so he managed to avoid shouting like he had been intentionally smashed with it, but he couldn't resist a strangled yelp.

He looked at Suki as soon as he did it, and sure enough, her eyes flickered open. As they focused a funny look spread on her face, and she flushed red and eased herself into facing the other way. His mouth stayed open, torn between talking to her or just quietly sneaking out.

But when she chose to look away, he didn't really have much of a choice. He swallowed the lump in his throat and left with his things, and pretended he didn't hear her start to cry.

He hated that he was mad at her, too.



The cicadas sang their repetitive buzzes, loud and obnoxious, and Sokka could do nothing to stop them. On, they went, humming and buzzing, until his ears were ready to ring with them. Sometimes, he sat on the porch and listened to them, trying to block out his other thoughts with their droning songs, but it never seemed to work. His mind would shift with noise after noise: Yue and the moon, the Fire nation, and Suki. Sometimes he got tired of listening to them, and he would tramp out into the long grasses around the back of the house, and he'd stomp around until they shut up, if only for a moment or two. It didn't matter, to him, if he was breaking the stalks, or if he was ruining what once could have been someone's private garden, once upon a time.

He had to kill the sound before it killed him, and it just grated on his nerves. If only it were as easy to kill thoughts, as it was to kill bugs.

But these little tirades against the cicada world were short lived. He would huff, he would stomp, and he would plop black down on the porch, with his head in his hands. Sokka would fork his hands through his hair miserably, itching where it was stubbly, pulling the rest out of its tie and then retying it. He would stalk over to Appa and comb the great beast's fur with his fingers, and then recover him with leafy blankets. Anything to keep him occupied.

Part of him wanted to go stir up trouble in the village and get into a fight with someone –– any Firebender –– but Toph and Katara were out getting food, and he was to look out for Suki and Aang, and guard the place, like any man of the house would. Only Sokka felt nothing like the man of the house... Sokka felt like the guard dog tethered to the porch, as fictional as his leash was. He should have been inside, watching her, talking to her, as he full well knew she was awake, but he kept himself on the porch.

He didn't really want to see Suki, not after how she'd been towards him last night. He was sure she didn't want to see him, either.

When he heard the screen door move open a crack, he turned to look at it. He knew who was there, obviously, but he pretended he didn't, like he was all surprised. In some way, he really was, because he hadn't figured she'd climb out of bed so soon, especially because of all she'd been through, but he still felt stung.

Stung, and kicked, and disliked, like the Omega wolf.

Nevertheless, he got up and helped her with the door, and realized she was sitting on the floor, too weak to stand. In the afternoon light, he could see that her wounds were mostly cleared up, true, other than the odd fading bruise, and the burn on her forehead. (Katara had said that could clear up, too, in a few months – it seemed to only be a first degree burn.) The only thing different from the Suki he had grown to admire and be fond of was her unwashed hair and these temporary marks, and the look on her face. Under her robes, he couldn't say.

He never could have imagined Suki looking so weak and helpless. Her eyes were red and swollen. Sokka thought about her words and how he had been so angry, and felt a surge of shame. He looked down at her for a moment more and then looked away, ashamed of himself for acting like such an idiot.

There was a long moment of silence between them, with only the thrum of the cicadas, and then she said, "You did come."

She trailed off and Sokka sighed, quietly, and he lowered himself down to one knee, so he could be, more or less, on her level. He didn't say anything for a moment, and then tried to bite back the lump in his throat. She avoided his eyes, but he could still see them welling with tears.

"I would have gone after you, to find you, the second I found out they were fakes, I just... didn't have a choice, and..." he tried, and trailed off, too. His own eyes dipped to follow the line of her shoulders, and then stare off somewhere behind her, his face burning red.

Her hands were knotted into fists.

"Sokka," she said, softly, and she didn't seem to have anything to continue with, so he put out a hand for her. She hesitated, and what part of him wasn't crushed was confused and even the slightest bit frustrated.

Why was she so afraid of him? Hadn't they always been equals? He didn't like how she recoiled, the look on her face when she did so, or the way her voice failed her. His Suki was a strong woman who spoke her mind and bossed him around, and he liked it. She moving away from him like she was terrified. Had he really failed her that badly?

He knew the answer to that, already.

"I'm sorry," she said, suddenly, and she took his hand. She held it with both hands, held his hand in such a funny way, like it was a thing of support. Suki clung to his hands, and he slowly shifted forward to bring his arm around her, his chin over the top of her head.

There was another odd moment of tenseness as he hugged her, and she never relaxed into it. She let go of his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck, as tightly as she could bear in her state, and he felt the ridge of her brow dig against his shoulder. She made a muffled sobbing noise, and he brought his other arm around her, to hold her closer.

"I honestly thought you'd come," Suki said, "I really did, and then you didn't, but you did. Oh, I hate you, I can't help it." She gave an odd sniffle. "I honestly thought I'd die there."

And the pieces that had already been there and in place were glued down firmly, because Sokka understood without being told, what could make a strong girl so weak. He knew what would make a rebel so obedient. It only made sense to make those sorts of connections. It gave Sokka feelings and intensified the old ones. Sokka hated the Fire nation more than he had hated anything before, and with a passion more intense than any meteor they could throw his way.

"It's all going to be okay," he said, firmly, for himself as much as her. Her grip slackened a bit, and he reluctantly pulled away. Her heart was beating so fast, he thought it would burst. "Come on. I'll drag your bed out, and we'll... sit in the sunshine, and just relax." He realized, and added on as an afterthought, "We've never done that together."

She didn't say anything, and she made a point to break physical contact with him swiftly.

He moved. Within minutes he had pulled her whole futon over, mattress and all, and she edged out of the doorway to give him space to do so. Sokka plopped it right in front of the door and helped her up, easing her over to the futon, and she sank into it with a long, tired sigh.

There was something in the way the heat was, sleepy and dry, that made his eyes droop. He hadn't slept well the night before, and she simply hadn't slept well in who-knew how long. Her very voice was sleepy when she spoke, and she seemed comfortable enough, to lie on her pile of blankets, her kimono loose around her. She drifted in and out of sleep while he struggled to stay awake, to think, to plan.

He fell into thoughts of how to invade the Fire nation, but it was planning short lived. His mind kept wandering back to her, to the feeling of being near her again, to his frustration with himself and with Katara and Toph, and his unyielding, bubbling hatred for Azula. When her face strayed into his mind, his blood boiled, and at one point, he felt his vision going red. To say she was infuriating, or aggravating, or merely frustrating was a dangerous understatement.

But the thoughts just wouldn't stick, and his mind sailed back to Suki. Apparently, hers weren't too far off, either.

"We've always been equals..." she hesitated, and he looked over with a sober expression. She confessed, "I must look so weak."

"Oh," Sokka said quickly, "I never thought you were weak."

Suki seemed reluctant to take this as the truth, and after a quiet moment, she said, "I know I made it seem like this was your fault, last night. Like if you had been there, it all would have been avoided. I don't want you thinking it was your fault, that any of this was your fault."

Sokka struggled with the "right" answer for a moment, toying between telling her the truth or lying to make it all easier. After that long moment, he blurted out, "I've been thinking about that non-stop for the past weeks and weeks! She almost killed you, Suki, and I wasn't there, and I didn't know where you were! But I never thought you were weak, just... well, Aang is the Avatar, and he couldn't take on Azula, and look at him, he's been out like a light for two months now."

Suki didn't say anything for a moment, and Sokka said, "I wasn't worried about you at first. When I found out they were impostors... I didn't worry, because you said you could protect yourself, but I wanted to be there to protect you anyway. And then when no one could find out what happened... well... I started to worry, too, 'cause you disappeared.

"But you're alive, right?" he finished, and he glanced at her again. Her eyes were closed, and she gave a single, curt nod.

"You always tell me the truth," Suki said, "but I still lost. I didn't protect myself. That's why this happened, not because you didn't protect me. And you're going to blame yourself for this, because you want to protect me."

In Sokka's mind, she was not making sense, and she did not specify what "this" was, but he figured he knew. He more than knew. Sokka understood this better than he understood the finer details of politics and warfare. And when Suki said, "Well?" he had to suck it up and answer.

"Well, yes," he admitted. "But even if I do, I mean... you protected me on the Serpent's Pass, right? I want to protect you, too. We're a team."

She let out a long, tired breath, not sarcastic or frustrated, but simply exhausted. They both fell into an acceptable silence, in the heat, the wood support beam digging into Sokka's spine and the bedsheets growing hot under the beating sun. Suki relaxed, and drifted in and out of sleep.

Sokka noticed the cicadas again, just as soon as he noticed she was humming. Short notes, ones that stretched out, soft and awkwardly so. What she hummed was nothing he recognized. In his travels, he had heard many songs, many strange forms of music, things that he never would have imagined existing before, but he'd never heard something so raw. Few people sang without music, and Suki was just strange like that.

It was melancholy, and he'd never heard anything but the stupid strums of shamisens, the war songs of his tribe, and the lousy things the diverse Earth kingdom could cook up. There wasn't really any music that appealed to Sokka. It was something he just put up with.

"What is it?" he asked, after a moment, and she didn't open her eyes.

"A lullaby," she mumbled, sleepily. "It's called _Red Lines_. Avatar Kyoshi used to sing it for her people... for her daughters..."

"It's... nice to listen to," he said, quietly, and the cicadas droned on in the heat. Sokka leant his head back against the support beam for the roof, and Suki lifted a hand over her head, towards him. Her fingers brushed against his knee, and he looked down at them.

The pads of her fingers, which he had remembered as calloused, were soft and delicate. He took her hand gently, and squeezed it, just as a friendly comfort thing.

"Katara healed them," Suki said.

"Huh?"

She shifted in her bed, and then let go of his hand so that she could turn over onto her stomach. Suki folded one arm under her pillow and rested her chin on top of it, looking up at him, and she took his hand again.

"My hands," she explained. Sokka inspected them closer.

"Yeah, I thought so," he said, "they look perfect, she did a really good job. Katara's good at healing."

"Even if I wore gloves all the time, I'd wear out the undersides of the fingers, and never get around to replacing them until my hands were all calloused and raw," she said. "Before I became leader, I used to complain about it all the time, but the leader at the time, my aunt, told me that girls all around the world have hands like this, flawless hands like porcelain dolls. She taught me that Kyoshi was different, and that girls with hands like this are unique and rare, because most Earth kingdom girls and Water tribe girls don't fight."

She paused, Sokka closed his hands over hers. She closed her eyes and smiled sadly, and continued, "So I started to look at them as proof of being a warrior... and without them, it's really strange. Like I was never a Kyoshi warrior at all."

Sokka hesitated, almost as if he didn't want to present the topic again, but he ploughed ahead, honestly.

"Suki... you don't have to be one," he said.

Her eyes opened and she pulled her hands from his, and Suki pulled herself to sit up, so that she could face him better. Her seat was shaky and she had to put her arms down at her sides to hold herself up straight, and even then, she seemed too tired, too physically weak.

"I want to be one," she said, slowly, "It's not a path I'm turning from."

"Look, I know you think I'm saying this to protect you, or because I'm afraid of losing you, or... well, maybe that's true, but it's more than that." He paused, as if trying to find his excuse. It didn't come. Suki sighed, and Sokka gave up. "Well, at any rate, I don't want you to get killed. It's dangerous out here. Since Ba Sing Se fell, the Earth Kingdom is at least ten times more dangerous. We're going into the Fire nation, and you could get killed!"

Suki's temper seemed to shorten, and she said edgily, "And you're immortal? Last I checked, anyone could die."

"Hey," he said, raising his hands in protest. He was afraid of another shouting session. "I don't want to argue with you! It has nothing to do with you being a girl, and I don't think you're weak, you proved that to me a long time ago! I... uh..."

He stopped, she waited, and he finally said, "Oh, Suki, forget it, I couldn't protect Princess Yue, and I didn't protect you, and I'm not fighting you. If you want to be a warrior, I'm not stopping you, I wouldn't dare. I just want you safe. The Fire nation is dangerous, you know that, "

"Of course I know that!" she said, a sting to her voice. "You ran in there and saved me, big deal, Sokka, you think _I_ don't _know _what they do there?! You have no idea, compared to what I went through!"

"Well, if you _told me_, I would have an idea," Sokka replied, his own frustration growing. He couldn't help it. He and Suki were too alike in that respect: sardonicism led to sardonicism, and he could only be calm with her for so long before his patience failed him. His anger from the night before flooded back, and hers seemed to be creeping in too, but when he took that tone with her, she made a face, horrified and furious.

At the look on her face, he immediately tried to ease it with a startled, "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it. When you want to."

They had never argued like this before, and each word was coming out worse and worse. Sokka was older and smarter now, smarter than the boy that had pushed a warrior girl further and further when he should have just shut up, and he knew to stop now. But Suki wasn't going to.

"I don't have to tell you," she shot back, loud enough that Sokka flinched. She was suddenly on the verge of tears again. He leant back, and Suki continued, barreling word after word out rapidly without hesitation, "Not that you haven't seen where I was, right? But you can just look, right? Think I don't know anything about danger? I want... I want revenge on them myself, so... it justifies..."

She wasn't making sense. Her fingers were fumbling with the tie on her robe, rapidly, and the tears were suddenly rolling freely down her cheeks. He could only sit there and let his brain flop around like a fish out of water, preventing him from doing anything to stop her. After a moment of struggling, she gave up on the tie and forced her shoulders out of the wide top and yanked it off her torso, while Sokka was just stunned.

"Suki," he croaked, flushing intensely as she sat there, half-naked, breathing hard and staring him down with tear-soaked eyes.

He forced his eyes to linger on where they should be roaming –– the raw, self-healed cuts and scratches, forming vivid red scars. Those were things Katara couldn't remove, things that had already healed naturally and left their natural marks. Suki's scars dotted up her rib cage and along the tops of her breasts, long lacerations and short dotted scabs. He recognized some like scrapings from stone.

Her body looked a million times better than it had initially, without the dirt and the sweat, with all the recent injuries healed and all the grime removed, but the scars were frequent and heavy. If there had been more burns, he barely noticed them. Even healed, she looked like a wreck.

But it was only the burn on her face that showed outside of her clothes, Azula's trademark.

"And there's more," Suki choked out, going back to the tie to try to get it open, to part the bottom. Sokka reacted this time, and he closed the distance between them, grabbing her by the forearms as gently as he could. She stopped immediately to stare at him, stunned.

"Hey," Sokka said, "it's okay. You don't have to. Just calm down."

Suki sort of slumped into his grip, blinking back tears with an obviously pained look on her face. She let out a sob, and buried her face against her hands, and he let go of her so he could embrace her close, but she pushed him off. He gritted his teeth, utterly filled with conflict and turmoil, and she just cried, the top of her kimono still bunched around her waist.

They stayed like that for a good ten minutes, Suki crying, and Sokka just sitting there speechless, struggling with anger and the urge to hold her again. Perhaps Suki just needed this; perhaps, to move on, she just needed a moment to pull herself together. Perhaps she really did hate him for "forgetting" her.

And then Katara and Toph came along, out of the long grasses and trees.

Sokka saw his sister first, naturally, and he gave her a _look_ and then looked back down at Suki. Katara wasn't naive to details, and she raised an eyebrow questioningly, and tilted her head so her chin was down, like she was suspicious. She had a good reason to be, but Sokka gave her a helpless look. Katara didn't seem to care about siding with him, still, and she stepped over Suki's bedding. She put a hand on Suki's shoulder, and she said, "Suki, are you okay?"

Suki stopped moving and she just nodded against her hands, lowering them slowly and avoiding Sokka's eyes. Katara put down the deerabbit that was slung over her shoulder and turned towards the door.

"Suki," she said, kindly, and then waited patiently. Suki fumbled to draw her sleeves up, and when she couldn't get them turned right way out, Sokka boldly moved forward to help her out, but when Suki gave him a look, he backed off. Katara watched the whole time, her eyebrows furrowed, halfway between perplexed and disapproving. When she finished righting her clothes, Suki turned to look at Katara again, and Katara asked, "Are you alright? If he's being a moron, just say the word."

"Yes, thank you, I'll be fine," Suki said, and she turned her eyes back to Sokka briefly, before wiping them off with her sleeve. "Sokka and I were just talking. Did the hunt go well?"

"Katara's terrible at it," Toph announced, and both Sokka and Suki glanced to Katara, expecting to see her reaction. It happened, as they predicted: Katara frowned and bristled, and she gave a silent huff and turned back to the deer.

"Oh yeah?" Sokka said, almost humourlessly, but he tried. "Doesn't surprise me, she probably just ran after it and tried to waterbend it to death, huh? That's bending for you, huh, Suki? These suckers can bend, sure, but they can't even nab a decent catch!"

Suki didn't smile.

"Yeah, right," Toph said, sharply, "I cornered it, trapped it, and killed it myself, thanks, and I used Earth-bending to do it!"

Katara looked up from the deerabbit carcass, which she was cleaning off in the sink. Sokka's stomach was grumbling for a meat dinner already, his true carnivore nature begging to be sated. He'd be all too pleased to indulge, when it came to that, but for now, he had to listen to Katara protest Toph's brags and accusations.

With the two younger girls distracted, Suki's eyes flicked to Sokka just briefly. There was still anger and frustration there, through the red, and then she looked off into the distance.

"Sokka," she said, wiping her eyes again. "I just can't control myself. I must sound crazy, I'm sorry."

In Sokka's mind, things started making sense.

"Hey," Sokka said, under his breath, forcing a smile, "we're still equals, right? It just means you're not allowed to laugh next time you kick my butt, and you can't ever tease me for crying, no matter how much of a doofus I look like."

She smiled, sort of, a single sort of "a-ha" that cracked at the end, coupled with an awkward smile and a few calm tears. She even put her head against his shoulder, though she resisted all other contact, and she said, "Right."



Suki ate ravenously, as if she hadn't seen a decent meal in eons, which was more or less true. It was probably the least polite eating any of them had ever seen in their lives, but Katara didn't say a word about it, only occasionally urging Suki to slow down and take her time, warning it'd all come back up if she didn't. Suki would take heed, of course, but her impulses would get the better of her, and she'd swallow down the rice rapidly, sometimes without even chewing. She practically inhaled it, and seemed to be short of breath when she finished, and she stopped once or twice to cough.

Sokka watched her in a mix of apprehension and completely relief, commenting to a very concerned Katara that, well, she hadn't been fed well, wasn't it okay if she ate now? He hardly touched his own food, regardless, even as Katara explained at length that the body wasn't about to keep that down after feeding like that. Toph only commented, "Sheesh."

Suki didn't talk much, and sure enough, barely hours later, Suki was kneeling over the edge of the porch, and bringing it all back up. Sokka was holding her hair out of her face and trying not to be too revolted at the smell.

"I just... had to eat," Suki said, wiping off her mouth with a cloth and grimacing. Sokka let go of her hair and reached over to the glass of water Katara had set down by them. He handed the glass off to Suki, who took it eagerly, and Katara stood over the two, arms folded.

"Hey, I don't blame you, but if Katara says something about shrivelly stomachs exploding, you miiight want to listen," Sokka said, as playfully as he could. His hopes were running high, he was feeling remarkably optimistic, but Suki didn't seem to be in the mood for that sort of thing. Suki didn't smile, possibly because she didn't find it funny, or possibly because she was midway washing her mouth out.

"Maybe," Suki replied.

"Throwing up isn't any better for you than not eating, though," Katara said, seriously, "You just have to pace yourself more. And this time Sokka won't be sharing his portion, no matter how much good he thinks he's doing."

Sokka had the decency to look sheepish. Katara sat down with them, and she gave Suki a friendly, one-armed hug that Suki didn't really lean into, so it was brief. Toph joined them, too, her nose scrunched up at the scent and her mouth dipped into a scowl.

"No offense, Suki, but that really reeks," she announced. Sokka gave her a nasty look but it wasn't returned, for obvious reasons, though he didn't realize it until two minutes later. Suki offered an apology, quietly, and Toph settled down on Sokka's other side, leaning against her palms.

The four sat quietly for a minute, and then Katara said, "Sokka, you do dishes tonight."

He looked at her as if he was going to protest, for a moment, and in the end, he decided on it. Belatedly, he said, frustrated, "I wanna spend some time with Suki, though."

Katara gave him a pointed look, and she smiled, nicely. She said, all chipper and far too brightly for the very forced smile, "So do I! We hunted tonight, you get to do clean up! It's only fair."

Sokka stood up and narrowed his eyes at hers, with a very distinct sense of suspicion. Katara didn't seem to care, and Sokka heaved a sigh and shuffled off, and Suki moved to stand up.

"Should I help, then?" she asked, but Katara put a hand on her shoulder and moved her eyes from Sokka to Suki with an apologetic look. Suki hesitated, and shifted her weight back from her hands to her behind.

"You don't have to, don't worry, he's man enough to wear an apron tonight," Katara said, and Sokka nearly walked into the door-frame, his head turned around so fast. Almost blithely, Katara asked Suki, "Can I talk to you? About Sokka?"

(Luckily, Sokka did not crack his head on the door-frame and die from blood loss. He did, however, stumble over the track, and that hurt a lot, too, but at least it was his toes and not his brain. No one but Toph seemed to notice, and Momo gave a funny little dance, mocking him. Sokka was not so amused.)

"I'd like to talk," Suki said, and Sokka was almost surprised to hear her sounding like she was making a confession, or something. Katara smiled, a bit more genuinely, and nodded, but then she glanced at Sokka with something akin to threat. He took that as his cue to get scrubbing, and, also, that it would possibly take a while to get it done. Sokka just got the general idea that he was not welcome in their girl-talk, for obvious reasons.

Regardless, for a moment he felt like pushing Katara off the porch, mocking her hair-loopies and possibly her sissy bending, but then he recalled that he was sixteen, not six, and that her bending was less sissy and more ass-kicking. Sokka wasn't going to mess with that, and besides: if Suki wanted it, her wish was his command. Sokka took it like a man, stripped off his arm-wraps, and willed himself to plunge his hands into the freezing water and scrub down the wretched pots and bowls.

He did not wear the apron, though.

Katara shut the door, and they spoke quietly enough that he had to strain his ears to hear what the hell they were on about. He caught mumbles, and he heard Suki make a noise something like sobs and Toph didn't say anything at all, which was surprising, given she was generally such an obnoxious loud-mouth.

He really just wanted to know, but he figured that if Katara wouldn't fess up to what she was talking about to Suki in their magical little no-balls-allowed girl-pow-wow, or if Suki was feeling lethargic, at least Toph would. He could generally count on Toph, even if he knew he'd be either mocked forever for what she called his "general wimpiness when it comes to gossip" or put up to a number of creatively difficult (and often painful) chores. Good little Toph, always to be counted on.

For now, though, he had to get rice off the accursed pot's bottom, as they were quite literally cooked together. That, and he was regretting not putting on the apron, as he had water up his front, and he wasn't really aware of how he'd managed to do it.



The days quickly became interesting: usually, Katara would go the village, leaving Sokka with Suki at their request, but she watched them like hawks until she couldn't see them, as she headed to get groceries and whatnot. Usually, Toph would go with her, and not by choice. Sokka was as pleased as Suki was about it, even if it meant long hours with awkward silences, stupid conversations about the weather, and a lot of napping. While Suki was rebuilding her strength, they just didn't do much, though she got noticeably more energetic as the days went by.

And the more energetic she got, the more Suki seemed compelled to talk about training again. There was only so long Sokka could distract her by dumping Momo on her with comments like "Hey, you should play with Momo!" or with cards or Pai Sho.

Eventually, Suki just wanted to be a warrior again.

"Can you help me with the back?"

Sokka glanced up at her to see her holding out a short knife in his direction, the hilt hovering in mid-air near his face. She was holding her hair back out of her face, but she had trimmed the front, so instead of hanging choppily down to her shoulders, it was short and jaw-length in front of her ears, just like it had been before.

Sokka blinked, a bit surprised, and he pointed at himself to emphasize this mild confusion. Sokka still clung to a sexist thought or two: he could shave his head, or trim the bottom of his wolftail, but he knew jack about cutting hair for girls, mostly because they typically wanted it all pretty-like. Why would he? It wasn't like Katara ever needed help with hers, it was so long.

"It's not hard," Suki said, almost teasing. The choppy bits in the front looked vaguely like some haircut called a "princess cut" that Katara had shown to him once. Katara had asked if she should maybe get her hair cut like that, and he had laughed in her face. But that was all irrelevant. Suki continued, "You just need to cut straight across."

Though the look on his face said otherwise, he said, seriously, "I will screw this up."

"Oh, don't be such a boy," Suki said. "You just need to cut straight across the back, so it's even with the front."

"But I like being such a boy," Sokka replied, but he made his way over and took the knife from her. She smiled, so vaguely, and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, and he settled down cross-legged behind her. He said, "You don't look bad with long hair."

"But I don't look good, either," she said, tilting her head in the mirror, examining the way it fell against her face at that length. "And besides, I can't keep it. It'd be in my way in battle. Warriors need short hair."

They both knew that practically no one in the Kyoshi warriors had short hair _except_ for her, and that she wore a headband anyway, but they both knew the actual reason for her excuse. That was why Sokka didn't point it out. He'd found a single instance of being able to shut up and keep it to himself. They both understood, naturally, that Suki's hair had grown long while she was _there _and because of _that_ and that there was no need for discussion.

"If I screw up, what then?" he asked, dragging his fingers through her hair gently. She had already worked out all the knots, and it hung straight. Hopefully he wouldn't suck at this.

"I'll beat you up," she said. "And then make you fix it."

"I'd fix it by shaving your head to be like mine," he said. "We can match!"

She honestly smiled, and she replied, "I'd look silly with a ponytail, Sokka."

"Warrior's wolftail," he corrected. "Katara wears a ponytail, long hair is a ponytail. Wolftails are..." He trailed off, trying to think of the right word. He loathed the idea of describing it as _perky_ or _fun,_ so he said, confidently, "are _fierce_."

Suki smiled, folding her hands in his lap. She said, "Stop being such a goof and cut my hair." She sounded amused, regardless of how calm she was.

So he started on it, bringing the knife through the hair piece by piece. He did not leave a straight line; in fact, the work-in-progress was already jagged and awkward, some pieces longer than others, and Sokka couldn't quite trim them again, they were too short. It looked stupid, but he didn't want to mention it.

"What are you going to do about the front?" Sokka asked, unable to word it better. Suki frowned at her reflection, and her eyes flitted up to look at her scar, rather awkward and badly placed. She spent a moment trying to rearrange her hair so that it swung in front of her face and covered it, but it didn't quite work.

Eventually, she just said, "I'll cut bangs."

Sokka's mouth screwed up into a rather displeased look, and he said, "As long as they're not like Toph's."

She replied, "Definitely not, just ones that go straight across." She made a gesture, drawing a line across her forehead, slightly below her eyebrows. "What do you think?"

"It'll take getting used to," Sokka admitted, and Suki shrugged.

"As soon as I can get a new headband, it won't matter," she replied, and Sokka bit back criticism. He didn't want to ask how serious she really was about being a Kyoshi warrior again so soon, and he didn't have to. She said, "I don't want to waste time on sitting around resting and reflecting. I need to train. I can't let time steal my strength any more than it already has."

"You've been resting for a week," Sokka said, "no offense or anything, Suki, but I think you're pushing yourself way too hard here. If I was where you were and survived, hey, if anyone went through that, they'd go fetal for a month."

"I don't have a month," she said, curtly, and held her hand out for the knife. He reluctantly placed it in her open palm, and she set to work on her bangs. "Besides… it's made me realize how much the Fire nation needs to be stopped."

"I know," Sokka said, "I agree. I don't think I've ever wished death on an individual before, but now I do, and… I want to help you, really, it's just a bit soon."

"I thought I could count on you to push yourself and me," Suki said. She lowered the knife and gave him a look through the mirror.

"You can!" he said quickly, "I'm just kind of on a short leash, here. Unless I leave Katara and the others, or if they come to us, we're sort of stuck. Trust me, I really want to kick Azula's face in."

Suki paused, and she closed her eyes as she cut one last stroke. The shortened bangs fell across her forehead, effectively obscuring the scar, and she gave herself a funny smile in the mirror, and then turned to look at Sokka. She put down the knife, carefully, and looked at him in the eyes.

"I'm going after her, whether you can come or not, Sokka, as soon as I'm ready."

His concerns rose in his mind, a tangled jumble of loyalties and duties. On one hand, he was supposed to be leading the invasions against the Fire nation; he was supposed to be Aang's right-hand man, the guy with the ideas, the guy with the boomerang. But with all those empty weeks behind him, did that mean anything anymore? Aang wasn't here, the Fire Lord was the picture of health, and the entire world considered Aang dead.

If he went with Suki to take on Azula, he could avenge Suki. But it was not only that: taking out the Crown Princess of the Fire nation would help, in the long run, avenge his mother, avenge Yue, and avenge everything he'd lost, not to mention the Fire Lord was nearby.

Sokka liked that idea, and at the time, it seemed a lot more reasonable than waiting around for Aang to wake up and solve everything. Sokka just didn't keep that sort of optimism handy, like Katara did. He had lost all hope of Aang saving them the second Suki had proposed that the two of them do it alone.

"You _are_ suggesting that you and I go and take on Azula alone, right?" he asked, "Just making sure."

She nodded, and Sokka hesitated again for an instant.

Why _not?_

"I'm in," he said, firmly, and he lifted his hand for an oath. An honest smile bloomed on her face, and she sat up on her knees and pulled him into a tight hug. He was only a bit startled, and he lifted his elbows awkwardly for a second, but then he relaxed and hugged her back.

"Thank you," she said, in his ear, her chin rested on his shoulder. Sokka smiled, looking at himself in the mirror, and the back of her head. The hair looked even more uneven from this angle.

"No problem. Though – and don't kill me – your hair is kind of uneven in the back, sorry about that."

Suki pulled away from him and looked at herself over her shoulder, and then she turned and looked at the other side. She raised an eyebrow, and asked, "How'd you manage that?"

He shrugged and grinned, and said, "What can I say? I'm just talented like that."

Suki laughed, and picked up the knife again to see if she could fix it. She couldn't, but that was okay: they had a game plan, and Suki's cheer seemed to have returned. Sokka decided he could go to bed happy.



"We're going to the river to bathe, alright?" Katara said, and Sokka merely groaned and rolled over in his bed. Just in case he hadn't heard, she went over and nudged him in the back with her toes. Sokka turned onto his stomach and buried his face against the pillow, and Suki sat up.

"Five more minutes," he said, muffled, and Katara nudged him again, this time in the side. Her eyes shifted to Suki and then back to Sokka, and she seemed to pretend the two were in different beds.

"You don't have to get up, although it would be nice if you collected firewood. Us girls are going to the river to bathe, alright?"

"Alright, alright," Sokka mumbled, and he shifted away from her nudges. He pulled the top of his sleeping bag over his head and grumbled away, and Katara glanced over at Suki, who was now wide awake.

"Coming?" she asked.

Suki had been waiting for that, and she was ridiculously pleased that Katara didn't question _why_ she was nestled up next to _Sokka. _Suki supposed that, well, her saving grace and integrity and self-respect was preserved simply because they were both clothed where it counted most, and Suki wasn't exactly nestled in Sokka's arms.

"Sure," Suki nodded, and she pushed the covers off her legs and stood up. She adjusted the front of her robe and climbed to her feet, a process that took her sleepy head a few seconds to get right. But once she was on her feet, she was okay. She folded up her abandoned futon and picked it up to put it in the cupboards.

Katara smiled at her and then said, "It's nice to have someone who cares about tidying up around. Sokka's terrible at getting his stuff away in the mornings, and Toph's no better."

There was something awkward about that smile, simply because. Suki felt stupid, but she brushed it off.

"Well, there's no point in leaving it lying there, taking up space. Besides, animals might crawl in," Suki said, dismissively, and Katara's smile became almost triumphant.

Sokka gave a grumble that was rather indistinctive, so neither girl bothered paying attention. Suki shoved the futon into the cabinets, and then followed Katara to the door. Toph was already waiting for them on the porch. Her arms were folded, and she kept staring straight ahead of her, as always.

"Morning, Toph," Suki, said, and Toph's response was hardly friendly. It was even a bit hostile.

"Morning."

Suki wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"How come when I'm ready, you take forever?" Toph asked Katara. Katara's smile faded, and Suki stayed out of this conversation, rather out of the loop. The two girls seemed to operate on some sort of odd friendship, like they were simultaneously rivals and close friends, and while they had many moments of cooperation, every other moment seemed to be childish bickering.

Suki, as a leader of a unit based off of cooperation and teamwork, just didn't have the patience to listen to bickering, which was precisely what launched off when Katara said, "I do _not_ take forever."

They argued the whole way down the hill and through the trees, and Suki ignored them. Part of her wished she had just declined, but then she'd have to either bathe alone, which Sokka probably wouldn't go for, or go _with_ Sokka, and that wasn't really an option.

She was pretty sure that if she went alone, Sokka would linger just in earshot and prowl the area for incoming enemies, to keep her safe while she bathed. And while being kept safe was one thing, having to be protected like that was embarrassing.

In some way, she was grateful that he cared so much, but the way he had acted on the Serpent's Pass had been clingy, fearful. Losing Princess Yue had struck him hard, she knew that well enough, and while the Pass had found a sort of truce between her and Sokka, the past two month's events were probably enough to send him spinning into that same old clinginess.

And she felt bad for not wanting it, but she had spent her entire life depending on herself and other women, and as much as she loved Sokka, being his princess in distress wasn't her idea of comfort.

But one couldn't get her wrong: she was more grateful to Sokka than she could ever explain, in words or otherwise. He had come, after all, when she hadn't a hope in the world, and her initial anger at him was ebbing. It occurred to her, rather quickly, that time was better spent being grateful and getting over her disappointment and troubles, than placing the blame on him.

Suki was so lost in her thoughts about protection and Sokka that she barely noticed Toph and Katara's argument had ended, and Katara was asking, "Are you alright, Suki?"

"Just a bit concerned," Suki replied, keeping her eyes ahead of her. She focused on the trees and how they passed her, rather than Katara's tone. When she knew Katara was going to prod further, she said, "Tell me about Princess Azula."

Katara had caught up with her, and she slipped past Suki to be able to see her face. She said, with her eyebrows pinched, "Why?"

"For the same reason I'd want to know about anyone," Suki frowned, "I don't know much about her, and I'd like to."

The worried look on Katara's face was briefly replaced by surprise, though it wasn't a very believing surprise. It was full of doubt, and Suki didn't like that.

She hated those looks, and she regretted ever using Katara as her shoulder. The fact that they were both female had given Suki ample reason to be able to tell her story, to explain what happened, and her feelings for Sokka were too intense to be able to confess to having been pushed to such a low. She didn't want Sokka to know the details.

That, Suki thought, was more embarrassing than anything else. The torture had been brutal, at the time, but the aftereffects were far more painful, more touching, and most of all, more scarring, than any physical wound.

And she had depended on a girl, on a fourteen year old, to shoulder those stories with her. It wasn't that Suki didn't like that Katara cared; she just didn't like that Katara had made herself Suki's permanent shoulder. Suki didn't want to burden Katara.

She wasn't ready to tell Sokka, but she preferred his shoulders to Katara's. They were broader, stronger. Suki didn't want to trouble anyone, but she knew Sokka well, and Sokka was the one, of the two siblings, that she could depend on more.

"Other than what she did in Ba Sing Se, I don't know much about her," Katara said, "You know we met them in Omashu and that they chased our trail for days. She tried to penetrate the outer wall of Ba Sing Se with a drill... she got through, but we broke the drill before she could do anything about it."

"What do you know about her, personally?"

Katara hesitated, and then she said, "As in, my encounters with her, or what I've found out about her?"

"Her history," Suki asked, trying to keep her tone light-hearted, but she was angry anyway. "I know what she's like, trust me. I want to know why she is how she is."

"She's ruthless. Manipulative. She's obsessed with getting her own way," Katara said, fairly scarce on examples or details, but Suki didn't need them. She already knew. "I'm guessing being the Fire Lord's daughter has something to do with it."

"Alright."

"And right now she's back in the Fire nation," Toph said, dismissing the issue with considerable ease, "Hundreds of days away. But the bath's pretty close. So can we save the relaxation for now and the political talk when it's not the crack of dawn?"

"It is not the crack of dawn," Katara replied.

"Sure it is," Toph said.

"It's practically noon!" Katara said, and Suki knew the frustration levels were rising again. She bit back an exasperated sigh and walked on ahead of the two, seeing the river up ahead.

"Same thing," Toph scowled.

Suki knelt down by the waterside. Even without touching it, she knew it was freezing cold, and that was why she didn't test the water. Instead, she straightened up, as Katara threw off her loose robe and went right in, naked, hurrying to dunk herself under the water. Toph jumped in after her, without a single bit of inhibition.

For a second, Suki moved to do the same thing, loosening the sash on her robe, but then she hesitated.

"Coming in?" Katara asked, after a moment of splashing about.

"I don't know," Suki said, "I'd like to, but it's cold. I think I'll just do it later, I'm cold enough as it is."

"Don't be so shy," Toph said, boldly, "We're all girls here, and it's not like _I'm_ going to be looking."

That wasn't quite it, though Toph had certainly found the nail, even if she didn't strike it on the head. Suki gave a non-committal "eh" and Katara pursed her lips. Suki shook her head.

She had grown up confident in her body. She had grown up knowing her own limits, understanding how her body worked, and she had never once stood for physical comparisons to other women. That just wasn't how Kyoshi Island worked –– it was a society that cherished the Kyoshi warriors, and no one thought little of them. They were renowned for the way they fought, and the elegance of it all. They were no brawlers. Kyoshi warriors fought beautifully, and they were beautiful.

And now, while she knew she could probably go through the old kata with ease, she was holding herself back because she was disgusted by the burns and bruises and scars, ones that told of intense failure.

She didn't want to see herself naked, let alone allow others to.

"I'm not shy," Suki said, "I just don't want to show off all the marks."

"I don't care," Toph said, "and it isn't like Katara doesn't know what injuries look like. Stay, come on in, the water's cold, but it's not bad. Don't let the sighted people bother you."

Suki hesitated, and then she said, "Thank you, Toph."

So Suki unfastened her sash completely, and put it down on the rocks. She took a long breath and then dropped the robe, too, sliding it quickly off her shoulders and dropping it down. Suki hit the water faster than she ever had in her life, and she sank into it so it came up to her neck before her body could even register how freezing it was.

"Agh, it's cold," she said, and Katara turned around to face her. Toph snickered.

"Told you," she said.

Barely elbow deep (unless one was going to crouch) and rather slow, the river was absolutely freezing, to the point that Suki just wanted to bathe and be done with it, even though she had never planned on lingering in the first place. She hadn't washed her hair in months, and it was rather matted still, despite the hours of brushing.

Suki ducked under, closed her eyes, and then surfaced with a splutter. It was so cold she thought she might actually freeze. She set on scrubbing herself with her palms, keeping herself under the water as much as possible -- as cold as it was, the air was now colder by default.

"I'm really sorry for how Sokka's been acting," Katara said, "All we seem to do is argue lately, and it's like he's purposely trying to knock heads with me. But if he ever starts to get on your nerves or pressure you, Suki, let me know, okay?"

Suki wasn't in the mood to argue with Katara over the fact that she was putting on more pressure than Sokka was. Sokka had been the one to save her, despite the fact that she felt she couldn't look him in the eyes without feelings of hurt and betrayal bubbling up. She just couldn't stand it.

Maybe that's what love-hate was supposed to feel like.

"Alright," Suki replied, running her hands through her hair and scrubbing. She drifted around in the water, careful with her feet so that she didn't trip on the slippery rocks at the bottom. A bit further down the river, Toph was turning the water cloudy with all the dirt she was rinsing from her hair.

Katara said, "How are you holding out, though?"

She just didn't seem to get the point that Suki didn't want to talk about it anymore. When Suki dismissed the question with a shrug and a lighthearted "I'm fine", Katara only pushed more.

"Because if there's anything wrong at all, you know you can talk to me, right? I'm always here to listen," Katara said.

Suki said, testily, "Alright."

"I just wouldn't want you to think that no one wants to listen," Katara said, "Any time, Suki, any time."

"I understood the first time," Suki reminded Katara. "I'm recovering from malnourishment, not hearing loss."

Katara looked sheepish for a moment, and then she said, "Right, right." There was a long, careful pause, and then she said, "Suki, it's really not the malnourishment part that's the most important, I mean, we can right that pretty fast, it's more that you were a victim."

Suki was hoping Katara would take her disgusted look as a cue to shut up, but no, Katara finished with a gem: "You went through a lot, and being starved was the least of your problems. It was... well, it was Azula. She had you at her mercy. "

Suki turned her head to face Katara, slowly, a look of indignation sliding onto her face. She stared. She said nothing, just stunned into anger, and she said, "Excuse me? Azula having beaten me was my biggest problem?"

Katara seemed to realize her mistake, and she quickly said, "I didn't mean it like that, Suki, I'm sorry."

"Forget it," Suki said, louder than she intended. She looked away and said, "Just forget it. I'm sick of being a victim, or watching other people become victims. I don't want this."

She stood up, freezing in the air, and Katara's eyes widened momentarily, over the scars. It was a bit awkward, but Suki didn't care. She just stood there, hands balled into fists and held just above the water, and she said, "I'm sick of sorrow, I don't want it anymore."

"Suki," Katara said, "I didn't mean it like that--"

"Of course you didn't," Suki shot back, "You hardly know me -- it's not your place to say. So I'll be going, now, if you don't mind."

She turned and headed for the riverbank, and she climbed out and threw on her robe. Katara gave chase and followed, worried, and she said, rightly concerned, "Suki, wait! I'm sorry, please, don't run--"

"Leave me alone," Suki said, without looking back. She fumbled her feet into her sandals and she headed up the slope, furiously, leaving a trail of drips behind her, and Katara couldn't follow because Toph had grabbed her arm.



"Hey, Katara," Sokka said, when Katara came up the hill not half an hour later. Suki was inside getting dressed, and Sokka stood in front of the door like the guard, just because it struck his fancy. He folded his arms, defensively, but he addressed her with a bit of concern.

"Is Suki alright?" Katara asked, with a frown. She stepped up onto the porch and Sokka opened his arms for a hug, which she accepted. She lingered in his arms for a second, and then stepped back and said, "I upset her, I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, Suki mentioned that you said she was weak?" Sokka said.

Katara sighed, and hung her head, and Sokka hugged her again. In fact, he hugged her so tight he lifted her clear off her feet, and she yelped, and he set her down again. He said, "Look, I'm not going to be a jerk about it, but just don't talk about that kind of stuff with her."

"Sokka, you can't just pretend—"

"Trust me," Sokka cut her off, "We most definitely can. Just back off, okay, Katara?"

Katara looked extremely worried, and she started to reply, a bit louder, but that was when Suki opened the door and slipped between Sokka and the doorframe, so Katara shut up. Suki and Katara made eye contact for a split second and then Suki took Sokka's hand firmly, and she marched him off with her head held high and her shoulders straightened.

There was no messing with Suki from now on, it seemed.



Sokka did his part, which mostly involved standing there and holding things for her. There wasn't much he could do, really, as he never really got to know the Kyoshi warriors well: he'd met a lot back home, sure, but only one or two of them were the same ones he had met on the island. Suki had a large number of warriors, and only five had left the island with her.

Suki was holding up well, though. Stiff upper lip, no tears, just a pose that suggested she had a heavy weight on her shoulders. It didn't strike him as unnatural at all, really. Their death customs may have differed dramatically, but death was still the same to both him and Suki; mourning didn't have to be everything. The dead were still with them, after all, in some form. No one had to break any bonds.

"I didn't think I'd have to do this again so soon," she said, solemnly, as she set up the wands of incense in their cradles. "Not since my mother died have I performed a funeral."

"How old were you?" Sokka asked, and he handed her the fruit he was carrying. She arranged them at the base of the tree carefully, each lined up perfectly. Suki didn't take her eyes off that tree for even a second.

"Thirteen," she replied. "Four years ago."

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be," Suki said. "She died doing her duty as a Kyoshi warrior, just like my friends did. They died with honour."

She bowed her head, and Sokka did, too.

"Never surrender," he said, more to himself than anything, as he knelt by her. She unfolded a fan with a flick of her wrist and she placed it behind everything, propped up between the tree and the fruit.

"Does the Water tribe fight to the last man?" Suki asked, quietly.

He looked at her, but she didn't look at him. He couldn't see her face, behind her hair, because she was looking down. After a moment of being unable to see what expression she was carrying, he said, "Yeah. We do."

"We're supposed to, too," Suki said, voice so quiet he could barely hear. Sokka understood. Suki was the last woman, too, wasn't she? But Sokka couldn't agree with her, no matter how true it was. The last man didn't necessarily need to die. Not when he survived the enemy and would overcome them later.

"Yeah," he repeated, and then he said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she replied. She glanced at Sokka, then, and he was rather surprised she wasn't crying. Her face was passive, it said absolutely nothing, and that concerned him, but in a way, he was proud of her, too. She remained a warrior through and through, and no warrior stopped to cry for fallen comrades.

It just wasn't the way of the Earth kingdom, or the Water tribe, or the Fire nation. Those three nations thrived on the principle of continued life after death, and how could one shed tears for that?

It was shameful to express weakness to fallen comrades, and both Sokka and Suki knew it. The five dead Kyoshi girls were respected warriors, and few tears could be shed over them.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Suki said, "Back home, Kyoshi warriors attend every funeral, to see the dead off, to honour them. All of us, all fifty-four of us. Every single time someone died, we all showed up in uniform, in a legion, to pay our respects. Warrior or not, we were there for them."

"Yeah," Sokka nodded.

Suki smiled, sadly, and she said, "I'm not all that's left of the Kyoshi warriors." With a pause, she glanced at him and said, seriously, "And you're not all that's left of the Southern water tribe."

Sokka smiled back, and nodded. Suki turned her eyes back to their makeshift grave marker, and she said, "Rest in peace, Tama, Jia-Li, Lin, Ayumi and Yin."

"Rest in peace," Sokka said.

There was a long silence between them, where Suki folded her hands together in silent prayer. Sokka watched her, admiring her strength of character, and then Suki looked up.

"Things in Kyoshi are so structured," Suki said. She lit the incense and waved it through the air like a wand, leaving a trail of wispy smoke behind it. Placing it back in its cradle, she brought her hands together in front of her and she bowed so low over her knees that her nose touched down. She stayed there for a moment, and then she sat up again. "I wish I could have shown you my world when you were there."

"I saw what was inside your dojo," Sokka replied, "Well. I learnt about the warriors, didn't I?"

Suki even smiled a bit there, and she glanced at him. Her glassy eyes were calm, and she said, almost curiously, "But you didn't see everything, did you? A few training sessions over a few days doesn't make you an expert."

"Of course not," Sokka admitted, and he struck up a brave grin and dipped into a bow to her. "I could never know as much as the master of it all."

Suki laughed, and she turned back to the tribute. The shadows on her face didn't seem as dark or grave now, especially as she said, "But you can try." She paused and said, mischievously, "Unless you've forgotten it all. It _has_ been seven months, hasn't it?"

"Eight. Quiz me, though, see what I remember," Sokka challenged, and she moved to climb to her feet. He offered her a hand and she took it, and he pulled her to her feet. Once they were on eye-level (or as close as they were, now, Sokka had gone through a bit of a growth spurt in the past months, or maybe it was just the food in Ba Sing Se) she put her hands on her hips and took that challenge to heart.

"Alright, Wise Guy," she said, "What's the first weapon Kyoshi girls learn to wield?"

Sokka didn't skip a beat. "Knives." He only remembered because he had royally screwed up that answer the first time. If he recalled correctly, he flipped open the fan, meaning to use it as his answer, but had accidently flicked Suki in the face with it. She, luckily, had the common sense of not stabbing his face with the correct answer.

"Right. And what's the first weapon that Kyoshi _warriors_ learn to wield?" Suki said.

"Poles," he replied, after a thoughtful moment. When she let out an amused little huff, but no correction, he said, "Right?"

"Almost," she said. "It has a proper name, because it's not _just_ a pole. And you have to tell me why we use them, too."

"Nigi... nigitana?" he said, and then grinned. "However they're called, you use them because they keep the enemy at a distance, and opponents with more weight or height lose their advantage, which is good because girls tend to be shorter, and they weigh less."

"Naginata," she said, and she gave the grave one last look before turning and heading up the hill again, slipping through the trees. Sokka followed, repeating the term in his head over and over again, so he wouldn't forget next time she drilled him. "I'm not very good with them, though, which is why I'm going to practice as soon as I can get my hands on one.

"If the fan's an extension of your body, then isn't the naginata roughly the same concept? Sure, it's more awkward to swing about, but you don't have to keep them so close," Sokka mused, "but I guess if they could throw rocks or knives at you or something, it's a lot harder to deflect."

"The fans are a lot more intimate," Suki confessed, "I like close-quarters far more than long distance. We're all trained in archery and all sorts of terrain fighting, like from a mounted position, and whatnot, but I'd much prefer being able to keep a closer eye on what they're doing, rather than focusing on cutting range."

"Can't say I feel the same, in battle, anyway," Sokka said, "but I understand. Me, I like my boomerang best. From a hundred metres, yeah, I can take any guy out. Up close, I can hold my own now, I think."

"Really?" Suki said. As she tramped through the grass ahead of him, she turned to look at him over her shoulder. That look on her face caught him immediately, the one eyebrow lifted and her lips curved into a playful smile, and Sokka almost stopped in his tracks, he was so caught by that look. When he just stared, she let out a sheepish breath and let her look dwindle to concern, and she said, "I don't mean to tease, I'm sorry."

She seemed to have misinterpreted his look. It wasn't that he was offended, or anything. Sure, he had a brief moment of worry that she felt he needed to be protected, but that sank to the pit of his stomach quickly. What got him most, really, was just that she was in such spirits, like her old self, for that instant.

He liked it.

He said, with a quick grin, "No, no, I didn't think that. But what, you want me to prove it to you, Suki?"

She paused, and then she answered him with that cryptic sort of reference that made the skin of his knuckles tingle and the memories of his hand-to-hand fight surface, bold and reddened.

"No, you don't need to. I _know_ you're a brilliant warrior, Sokka. You proved that to me already, and I'm _proud_ of you."

The way she said it was just different from the ways he had ever heard it said before. She was proud of him. Not proud of him in the tone that his mother had taken when he had caught his first fish, not proud of him in the tone that Gran Gran had taken when he had taken his father's departure without later tears, not proud of him in the tone that his father had taken when he had been deemed a man. Not even proud of him in the way that Katara was, in that sisterly, fond way.

Suki was proud of him as any woman would be proud of her best friend, the way they were proud about someone close and important. Suki was proud of him _that_ way, and he just figured it out from the way her voice lifted.

He'd proved himself, she was proud of him, and while it was just another thing he had accomplished, it seemed so monumental coming from a girl he admired and cherished so much.

He just said, fully aware of how emotional and stupid he sounded, "Thanks, Suki." He paused for a second, and then said, "I'm proud of you, too. You're so strong and beautiful and... you're just so unstoppable. Nothing holds you down. I like that about you. I like you, all of you. I'm so sorry about everything. I really am. I couldn't be more sorry."

Sokka knew he sounded ridiculous, but if there was any moment of his life where he couldn't feel like he was being all smooth and romantic and affectionate, this was it. Figured.

Suki smiled at him, and she took in a breath, and then let it out, long and slow. She watched him for a moment, quiet, and then she backtracked towards him. He took a step forward, pretty sure she was going to hug him or kiss him or something, but she didn't. Instead, she took his hand and held it, and said, seriously, "I'm really sorry, too, and thank you, Sokka. I've missed you so much."

She kept her eyes locked on his with every word, standing so close that the rise of her chest was almost brushing his, their hands between them. With her face so close, he leaned in for that kiss, but she didn't linger long. She parted the space between them, and started walking up the hill again, still holding his hand, and he flushed red for having tried. But he walked with her, boldly.

"It means so, so much to be told I'm still strong," Suki said, after a few awkward seconds with nothing but the forest sounds to fill the silence. Sokka tightened his grip around her fingers, with a reassuring squeeze, and he sped up to walk side-by-side with her, where ever he could without running into a tree. Suki led him on.

"I'm not just _telling_ you," Sokka said, "I'm an honest guy. It's the whole truth."

When they walked up the hill, the sun overhead casted a golden halo around Suki's head, lighting up her hair, and they had to squint to see ahead of them, it was so bright. Her skin was pale in the sunlight, and she was absolutely beautiful. Sokka hardly noticed the burns, because he had Suki to look at.



Suki was on her feet, and the stances still seemed to come to her like second nature. When she adopted the fighting stance, Sokka felt the warm familiarity to it, and he grinned. She smiled back, over her hand, and he said, "I'm going to be as easy on you as I can."

"No," Suki shook her head, "I need to get up on my feet again. Challenge me."

He hesitated, and then said, "Aren't you supposed to be taking it easy?"

"My body's fine," Suki replied, impatiently, "I just need to get my head into this again. Come at me, or I'll go at you."

Sokka still hesitated, and she went his way. He didn't want to turn any of her force against her, but he couldn't exactly bring himself to get smacked around. Sokka, as warrior, knew that was no way to feed a woman's ego, as just as it was no way to feed a man's. She couldn't win on a technicality or because he didn't fight back.

While his initial reaction to her charge was to step out of the way, at the last moment, he braced himself, and grabbed the hand coming his way. Quickly as he could, he stepped to the side and twisted, bringing her palm up behind her back, to her shoulder blades.

Suki froze for a second, and he felt her let out a long breath and move forward, to shrink away from him. But as quickly as the moment of fear came, she snapped back into the fighting spirit, and she brought her foot down on his.

It wasn't enough to seriously stop him, because it hadn't been a serious stomp, so he held on. She twisted her arm, and turned to face him, and twisted his grip right off her.

Suki took two steps backwards, to give him a bit of berth, and then she went towards him again. Sokka, with Suki's look of fear fresh in his face, instinctively moved back, dodging her prod to the shoulder, stepping away from her aim at his gut. Frustration appeared on her face, and she stopped in her tracks when he didn't diffuse the third attack, instead opting to step out.

"You're not helping," she said, bluntly. "You're acting like you're afraid of protecting yourself."

"Suki, _I don't want to kill you_," Sokka said, just a blunt, and she looked at him as if she had been slapped.

"You won't kill me!" she protested, "When you hold back, you're holding me back… that isn't what I taught you! How can I ever fight again if you're not going to help me? I'm not asking you to hurt me; I'm asking you to work with me. I need to train, and I can't do it alone, and if it means knocking me over a few times, so be it!"

Sokka was still hesitant, and Suki said, "This is exactly why I didn't want you to see me!"

"What?" he said, stunned. He raised his eyebrows, staring at her. "Suki, please, not this again."

"I resolved to get back up on my feet and stop the Fire nation," she said, again. "I thought that if… if you thought I'd be weak, or helpless, or should be 'taking it easy', then you wouldn't help me train. And I'm right."

"Suki," Sokka protested, "no, no! You're still strong, you're not helpless, and, well, you _should_ be taking it easy, I won't deny that, but… I can't hurt you. And I don't care if what you taught me was to turn the strength of others against them, I can't turn you against yourself either."

In some ways, she relented, but Suki was a stubborn girl. She pursed her lips and stared him down, and although she didn't say anything, he knew what she was thinking. He was right, after all, but that didn't make it any nicer to hear.

"Look," she said finally, "Sokka. I'm sorry if it's hard, but…" she trailed off, and let out sigh, steeling herself for it. "But you have to do this for me. I don't want you to hurt me, I just… I need your help." As if it would make it easier for him, she added, "I had to help you, once, come on."

Sokka hesitated. Her guilt tripping skills were strong, even if she didn't really intend it: he had failed her recently and he sort of owed it to her. He then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll try."

"You have to _do_," she said, bossily. He nodded more firmly, and when he took a moment to get moving, she said, "Put 'em high, Sokka."

"I'll do it," he replied, seriously, lifting his arms and adopting the fighting stance.

And Suki came after him again, with the intent to actually hurt, and Sokka felt himself being forced into counteracting. Her attack was intended to hit a pressure point, much like those one of the impostors in Ba Sing Se had used, and he swept his arm in front of him and grabbed her forearm, sticking out his foot to pull her across it, so that she tripped. He caught her before she landed, though, and she gave him a look. He let go, dropping her onto her bottom on the floor, and then stepped away so she could get up.

She did so, and with a very forced war cry, she went at him again. The first hit he caught and it only glanced off him, and the second he blocked, twisting out of her path and bringing her with him. He felt himself doing cheap, high-energy things that no experienced fighter would dare use, like a beginner, simply because he couldn't switch his mind into fight mode to save his life. His emotions were driving him too much.

Suki knew it, and Suki was the one pushing him, when he ought to have been helping her. But it was hard to use force against someone who had been bedridden only a week before. If Katara knew what was going on, she would have stopped this immediately, and Sokka felt Suki's desire to get it done under his sister's nose.

Selfishly, he still didn't want Suki to go off into battle ever again, because next time she could come back dead. Maybe, if she went again, he'd lose her, and it'd be all his fault. It'd only confirm Yue, and this whole madness.

"Come at me," Suki said, breathily, her chest heaving with even the light sparring. "Sokka, come at me."

He knew better than to hesitate, and he stepped forward, moving out of the fighting stance and into an attack one, aiming to knock her off balance. He tried in vain to get his mind into the battle mindset, but he failed, and by the look that dawned on her face as he approached, he knew she was having trouble, as well.

Suki moved back so quickly he barely even came close to touching her. He moved forward again, and she backed right into the wall, and he nearly stubbed his toe against the floor trying to come to a stop before crashing into her.

The look on her face was a look of fear and panic, and he, nor Suki, seemed to understand why. He shifted closer, not intending to try attacking her again, and she pressed herself flat against the wall, reaching out her arms to push him away.

"Don't," she said, suddenly, her voice rising so it was almost a whine of fear, and her chest heaved again with the struggle to get a decent breath. Sokka backed off, raising his hands in a sign of surrender.

"Sorry?" he said, confused, and she looked away. She sank down against the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest and forking her fingers through her hair. He knelt down beside her.

"You scared me," she said, strangely, resting her forehead against her palms and staring straight down. "It's… it's my fault, I'm sorry, but…" Suki seemed frustrated, with her own actions, but she continued, with an angry edge to her voice, "Why did you come so fast? I didn't have time to get ready or anything!"

His patience and his worries were wearing thin. Sokka bristled.

"You said you wanted me to come at you for real!" he said, loudly. "I don't get it! One minute you're demanding I spar with you and then you're upset at me for doing it! What do you want, Suki?!"

"I want to fight again without thinking about losing!" she said, just as loud, looking up at him and dropping her hands. He regretted yelling when he realized her eyes were brimming with tears again, and she continued, angrily, "I want to fight without thinking about dying, or my friends dying, or getting taken prisoner and…"

She trailed off, and closed her eyes tightly, burying her face in her hands again. She continued, muffled, "I'm supposed to be a warrior, look at me."

Sokka wasn't sure what to say, but he shifted to sit next to her, up against the wall. He tried to find something supportive to say, but there was nothing, so he just put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey…"

She closed her eyes and tried to steel herself. She said, finally, "I just want to kill Azula myself."

He gave an odd sort of laugh and said, "I don't get to help?"

"Well..." she replied, hesitantly, and then she reached out to place her hand over his, over her shoulder. "Of course you can. We're a team."

And that was more of a confidence booster than anything else she had said to him, and while it didn't wipe away the feelings of failure, it certainly did do a good job at covering them up. Just that one little word. They were a team.

_Team._

"Let's call it quits for the day," Sokka said, cheerfully, "No more tears."

"You're right," she said. "No more tears, from now on."



Her head lifted with his chest with every breath, long and relaxed. Sokka played with her hair between his fingers, mussing it up so it got all tangled. She didn't seem to notice, because she was mostly asleep, after a hard three hours of practice.

Her war-paint was leaving a big white and red smudge on his skin. His shirt was on the floor across the room, by the door. Katara picked it up with her foot when she came in, and she flung it so it landed on his face. He cringed, despite the fact that it was mere cloth.

"Katara!" he grumbled, quietly, pulling it off with his free hand.

She was looking at Suki, intently, and she said, "You've been training." Obviously, she'd noted the make-up. Her tone seemed sad, almost disappointed, and she glanced at Sokka with her eyebrows knitted, her mouth curving down. She said, softly, "Why? She's still so weak."

"Suki isn't weak," he replied, and he glanced at her, checking to make sure she was still asleep. He lowered his voice anyway, and continued, "Look, Katara, it was her choice. By the way, where's Toph?"

"Toph's coming," Katara said, dismissively, "But her choice or not... it's barely been a week since she left. She still doesn't get the right sleep, she still eats badly... she's hardly fit enough to train."

Sokka made a face, and he said, defensively, "She's sleeping now."

"Yeah," Katara said, sharply, "how long did you train with her before that? Since we left?"

Katara crossed the room and sat down in front of the counter. She approached the block of ice in the corner and placed her fingers near the edge, and it drifted into the air as water, revealing another segment of the deerabbit Toph had caught a week ago. There still was enough to feed them for another day or so, safe from spoiling within the casing of ice. Katara sawed off the frozen meat with Sokka's knife and set it down in the pan, and she melted the ice with a push of her palm.

"Look," Sokka said, almost at a loss for words, "she wanted to do this. I'll have you know, I don't want to do it and she gets mad because I won't kick her butt. I hold back, for once, and she hates it! But I want what's best for her, and if she wants to be able to fight, I'll help her."

Katara was rummaging for her fire drill, but she stopped, and looked at him pointedly.

"Maybe what she wants isn't best for her."

Sokka scoffed, and scowled, and Suki shifted. Her arm was laid across his chest, too, and her elbow dug against his ribcage just slightly. He winced, and stifled his anger at Katara by grinding his teeth together in frustration.

"Of course it is!" he said, finally, without something of more substance to say. "What Suki wants is best for Suki."

"No, it isn't," Katara replied. She arranged the tinder and kindling in the bottom of the stove and began twirling the harder, pointed wood into the softer wood, and it barely smouldered. She let out a frustrated sigh, and Sokka wasn't sure if she was just failing at the whole fire thing, or annoyed with him. "I don't think she understands that she can't just pretend it never happened, Sokka. She's acting as though life paused on the day that Azula nearly killed her, and started up again last week. That can't be good for her."

"She's moved on, Katara," Sokka argued, "what's wrong with that?"

"She hasn't," Katara asserted, firmly. "No one can just push things out of their mind like that, Sokka. It's not like it's a splinter, or a little patch of frostbite, or a bug bite... you don't just itch at it the second day and then forget it ever happened."

It was proving extremely difficult to be vehement and firm with his sister when he couldn't wake the girl sleeping against his chest. Katara knew this, and she knew he didn't want to hear what she had to say, either.

"If Suki says she's over it, she's over it," Sokka ordered, adopting his leader-tone. "No if, ands, or buts, Katara."

"_But_ her mental health _and _sanity is just as important _if_ you want her to be okay," Katara said, challenge stressed in her voice. Sokka was irritated by this. Katara said, "Look, maybe you don't understand. No one could ever go through that sort of thing without some sort of issue."

"She's a warrior," Sokka stated, "and a girl. And she's tougher than that. It doesn't matter what happened there, she said. She's over it! Why can't you get that? Jeez!"

"You aren't helping her by satisfying her every whim," Katara snapped. "Even if you just want her to be happy, protecting her from herself won't work forever! Sooner or later, you won't be able to anymore!"

"Shut _up_, Katara." He lifted his voice, accidently, and in his haste to snap, he shifted to crane his neck towards her, and his fingers raked through Suki's hair far rougher than he intended. Guilt spread in him as Suki shifted, and Katara barreled on.

"You told me that a long time ago!" she said, voice lifting, too, "You told me I couldn't protect Aang forever, and that was proved many times, wasn't it?! I couldn't protect Aang, you can't protect Suki! So _you_ shut up, Sokka! _YOU_ shut up and stop babying her!"

Suki was fully awake to hear, by then, and she lifted her head from Sokka's chest, accidently putting her weight down on his ribs. When he grimaced she sat up on her own, and he sat bolt upright, wheeling around to glower at Katara.

"I'm not babying her!" Sokka snarled.

"Babying who?" Suki said, hesitantly, looking between them.

Katara dropped the wood hard, and it clanged off the potbellied stove softly. She threw the drilling stick down quite intentionally. She rounded on Sokka.

"You aren't–– argh, never mind." She seemed to think better of it, and she retrieved the things and set them down against the stove angrily, and began to drill it again. Nothing happened. Sokka was torn between helping her and putting up with her nonsense, or just letting her fail and going without dinner.

"What?" Suki asked, and Sokka climbed to his feet. He took her by the arm, gently, and she followed him to her feet.

He said, "Let's go outside where it's warmer, huh?"

"It's not cold in here," Suki replied, mildly confused, but she caught on. Katara let out a noise Sokka couldn't quite place, like she was choking on her own breath, or like she had forcibly pushed her face into a sleeping bag to stop herself from making a sound. He turned around just in time to see her burst into tears, and his anger twisted in him.

Suki glanced back at Katara, awkwardly, and Sokka glanced at Suki. Alternately, Suki then turned to Sokka, and Sokka turned to Katara. Katara just sobbed, hard. Sokka turned back to Suki, and was torn between walking out and comforting her, but he, too was pretty hurt. His pride held him back, and with that, he turned his back on her.

Sokka led Suki out, holding her hand, using his other hand to slam the door shut behind him. He grabbed his sleeping bag on the way out, and he tossed it down in the grass and spread it out. He plopped down on one side and she joined him, settling down and crossing her legs. When he didn't offer an explanation, she asked, "What was that about? Aren't you going to comfort her?"

"Katara thinks you're more hurt than you let on," Sokka said, defensive mindset coming up needlessly. Suki pulled a face, one corner of her mouth drawing up in a somewhat embarrassed look.

"Look," Suki said, awkwardly. "I know it's difficult, but... this is the Earth kingdom. You're from a small village where this sort of thing would be practically unheard of. In Kyoshi, this would have been unheard of. But the Earth kingdom is big, and has been occupied by the Fire nation for over a hundred years now. Maybe a hundred of years ago, this type thing might have been shocking, but it really isn't now. Leaving Kyoshi taught me a lot about the Earth kingdom, things I didn't know before. The Fire nation is ruthless and I'm not their only victim. A lot of people have been treated just as badly as I have been, or worse."

"It doesn't change the fact that it's wrong!" Sokka said, firmly. "People shouldn't be treated like THAT, no matter what nation they're from. And I'm not saying we should put up posters and tell the world, I'm not, but come on, Suki."

"I don't know what you expect me to do," Suki replied, her voice growing a bit strained. Sokka wasn't sure, either, and in the background, he could hear Katara crying, and he didn't know what to do about anyone -- himself, Suki, or his sister. Suki said, "Do you want me to just be a crying wreck?"

"No," Sokka said, "I don't know."

Suki looked away, shifting in her seat to tuck her knees up to her chin, and she wrapped her arms around her legs. She said, calmly, "Nor do I, really."

He wasn't sure where they were going with that. He looked at her, waiting for her to look at him, but she didn't. She just avoided his eyes and stared straight ahead. He moved to put an arm around her but she leant away just slightly.

"Maybe you should go to Katara," Suki said, and Sokka felt guilty.

But he did, reluctantly, leaving Suki alone on his sleeping bag in the yard, and he wondered what she wanted and what she really thought was best for everyone.



"Ow," Sokka stated, clearly. Suki didn't seem to have heard him, or perhaps she was just ignoring him, so he said louder, "OW." This seemed to snap her into it.

"Sorry," she apologized, immediately, "wasn't paying attention."

Suki had zoned out while she had him on the floor, face-down with his arm twisted behind his back. She was holding it higher than his shoulder-blades, meaning it involved quite a bit of uncomfortable twisting and limb-stressing. She let go, and Sokka let out a long breath, cringing as he brought his arm around to a reasonable position.

"You sure you don't want to take a break?" he asked, concerned. "You've been out of it a lot today."

She frowned, and she sat back on the floor to give him room to turn over and sit up. He did so, ignoring the burn in his limbs. For someone still so frail, Suki hadn't forgotten a single bit of technique, and rusty as she was, she could still give him a decent run for his money. It was just the force she needed to work on. The energy, too.

He got to his feet again before she could ask him to, and he brushed himself off, eventually just doing away with his shirt. He had to admit, while the novelty of being able to run around half-naked was not as new and thrilling as it once had been, he still liked being able to bask in the Earth kingdom heat, especially if he was working up a sweat. A small sweat, but a sweat nonetheless.

Suki eyed him, up and down, but didn't say a word. She just climbed to her feet and stretched out, sluggishly, and then lifted her arms. When he flopped on the floor and said "Suuuki!" lazily, she gave him a curt "get up" gesture and he did.

"Come on," he said, "you've been at this for a while, let's take a break. You're so tired you're not even standing straight."

She could always count on him being pretty blunt, but it frustrated her when he was right about something she didn't like, he knew. Suki frowned and looked away, and she said, "I'm fine. Get up."

"Alright," he said, standing straight. He lifted his hands, and Suki moved forward. The first blow he stepped around so she put all her momentum into a hit without impact, and the second, weaker one he turned against her, grabbing her wrist. He twisted her around so her arm was drawn across her own chest and her wrist pinned under her arm. He held it there, kindly, and he put his other arm around her waist.

Suki let out a long breath, and he shimmied his feet backwards to avoid getting his toes stomped on. Suki struggled for a moment, but gave up quickly, panting hard.

"Break time?" he prodded. She sighed.

"Only a short one," she relented. Sokka knew that, by the way she was breathing, she was going to take more than a short break, but he didn't mention it, and neither did she. He let her go, and they both settled down on the floor.

She let out a long breath and said, carefully, "You really need to work on your footwork, that dodge there was so sloppy."

He laughed, awkwardly, and replied, "Hey, who's teaching who, here?"

The corners of her mouth twisted up and she replied, "We're equals here, none of that sifu nonsense. I'm just saying your footwork is lousy."

"Yeah? Well, you hit like a girl," Sokka retorted, not being terribly serious, just because he knew it would get a reaction. Like a little boy would taunt a little girl he liked.

He got the reaction he wanted. Suki quite seriously hit him, although not hard, but it left a red handprint on his bicep. It tingled, but didn't quite hurt, and she said, "A very strong girl."

"A very strong girl," he agreed.

"Don't you know it," she smiled.

"I do know it!" he agreed, again, and Suki actually drew closer to him. Her palm covered where she had smacked him, skin soft and tender against his, and she leant her forehead in the crook of his shoulder. He almost moved back in surprised, but instead he laughed, and her nose jabbed him in the neck. His hand drifted to her back, holding her there.

Suki had never snuggled up to him like this, even if there was an awkward gap between them, where their bodies didn't quite touch. He was hyper aware of that space between them, where he felt there should be the curve of breasts and the poke of her ribs and her hips. Instead it was just her hand, and her forehead, and she was quiet.

He put his arms around her tightly and pulled her right up close, and she braced herself, but she calmed at the same time as he let her go, wary of what he was doing. When he pulled his arms away, she kept close.

He laughed and said, "Am I being pushy?"

"It's pushy in an acceptable way," Suki said, seriously.

Suki couldn't hold back a laugh, however, when Sokka commented, "Alright, because you're fun to hold."

"Am I?" she replied, and she ran a hand down her own front, stopping over the ribs and smiling. "I feel a bit bonier than I used to be, but you're fixing that, huh?"

"Hey, well, Katara and Toph are. I'm hanging with you, instead of hunting," he said, and he had to do the inevitable and admit, "You're a bit weird when you're all bony, but you'll be back to usual in no time."

"I've never been hunting," Suki said, and Sokka's mouth fell open in some inexpressible form of joy and surprise.

"I'll take you!" he said, brightly, "You and me! We'll go and we'll find something really great. And we'll have Katara or Toph go down to the village and sneak us some other foods, and we'll have a feast."

"Even vegetables?" Suki said, raising an eyebrow.

"Even vegetables," Sokka replied, although he hesitated for a second. "It's a feast! We'll fatten you up again –– well, not _fat_, but you know, warrior-type, and we'll all have drinks and dance and play. It'll be a party, just for you."

"I like that idea," Suki said, and Sokka nodded enthusiastically.

"I like that you like that idea," Sokka replied.

Suki didn't continue the trend, but she did move up against him again, and this time she was closer. He could feel her breath on his neck, and then, after a brief stint of closed-eyes and relaxation, she said, "Alright, break's over."

"Alright," he said, and he didn't wait for her to get up before going in for the attack. He grabbed her by the shoulders and laughed. He grabbed her by the shoulders and made to roll her to the ground, his intentions meant to be playful.

This was potentially a stupid thing to do, and in the end, it turned out to be not only stupid, but damaging. Suki did not take kindly to him startling her by moving so close, and when he pressed close she brought her knee up. By some feat of luck, she managed to miss the more precious parts of his anatomy and knee him right in the gut instead, but it was winding anyway. He knew how much effort it took to hurt someone that way, and Suki certainly did have that impact.

He groaned and rolled to the side, and Suki slammed him down against the floor by the shoulders.

"Why would you do that?" he asked, between complains and hisses of pain, and her reaction was extremely late. She backed off, let go, and covered her mouth with her fingers.

"Sorry," she said, "you just caught me completely off-guard, I just..."

Between his teeth, he said, "Uh yeah, that's okay, I understand." Even if it felt like she had stabbed him in the gut, rather than knee him. No matter what.

"Sorry, Sokka," she said again, and he stretched out on the floor, hands over his gut. He grimaced. He nodded at her, eyes closed.

"I just went somewhere else for a second, there," she trailed, sounding just as hurt as he felt.

He thought it appropriate that he didn't dig the wound deeper, so he just said, "That's okay."



"What does 'Suki' mean?" Sokka asked. He was holding her from behind, his arms around her arms and torso so that she couldn't move. She struggled for a moment, and then pulled him right over her shoulder. He struggled to stay upright, but he ended up letting go and flipping anyway, landing hard on his tailbone.

He winced, and she said, holding his arms behind his back, "Beloved, but it has a lot of other meanings with different characters. I just write it with the character for 'beloved', though, it's easier."

"Yeah?" he said, and he took a moment to break out of her hold with ease. He came at her again, quicker this time, and while she managed to dodge the first knock, on the second he had her under him on the floor. He asked, "What are the other ones?"

"Well," Suki paused, looking up at him from the floor. He looked down at her, standing over her with one foot on either side of her waist, reaching down to keep his hands on her shoulders and hold her there. She seemed extremely uncomfortable, but not for long: she reached up and grabbed him by the back of the knees, digging her fingers in to activate his bending reflex. Down Sokka went, dead-legged. She pushed him over.

Then, she explained, "It also means a chip in armour, or an opportunity, but in Aikido, which is the fighting style Kyoshi warriors use, if you'd forgotten, it can mean 'flawed technique'."

"I didn't forget," Sokka said, as he rolled to his feet and parried off a few more strikes. In reality, he had, but it didn't matter. He said, "At least 'beloved' balances out the 'flawed' bit. Your form is pretty perfect."

"Hey," Suki said, and she actually smiled a bit, the corners of her mouth lifting, amused. "It means I exploit other's weaknesses, not that it's MY technique that's flawed."

As she said it, she grabbed him by the shoulders and brought her knee forward at an alarming speed towards his groin, and he only barely managed to get the hell of her way, but she stopped before she actually hit him, anyway. When he cringed at the close call, she laughed.

"I wouldn't do that, you know," she said, "that's going a bit far."

"That's going a lot far," he said, delicately, and he made a face. Suki giggled, and before he could react, she gave him a gentle bop in the stomach. Sokka, quite off guard, doubled over and folded his arms over his gut with a groan. It was extremely exaggerated.

She said, teasingly, "Don't be such a goof."

He stopped his groaning fit and then looked up with a wicked grin, and he grabbed her around the middle. She gave a startled yelp, and despite how she tried to move away, he slung her over his shoulder, locking an arm around her thighs and just above her knees and holding them to his chest. Once the shock of this sudden movement wore off, she braced her hands against his back and laughed, and then gave him a thump.

"Don't be a goof?" he asked, brightly. "Try and stop me."

"Sokka," she said, "put me down, goof!"

"Nope, nope," he shook his head, and she kicked her feet around. He struggled to stay upright and not overbalance with her weight over him, and used one hand to hold her foot so she couldn't kick him in the face by accident.

"Sokka," she warned, but she couldn't keep the laughter from her voice. She gave him another thump on the back, and then said, "Sokka, put me down."

"Not until you guess what my name means," he replied.

"Put me down or I will disable you from the waist down," Suki replied, and though she didn't sound like she meant business, she prodded him gently in the back, on a specific place, right over his spine. Sokka arched his back immediately.

"That's not fair," he replied, smiling anyway. He bounced himself on his feet, so that she lost her brace and fell against his back again with a gasp. She braced herself again. He grinned. "Besides, you like me too much to paralyze me."

"I really don't know. What characters is it written with?" Suki replied.

"I see what you're doing," Sokka replied, "I put you down, write it out, and you get in a few hits while I'm distracted. Nope. Sorry, Suki, not falling for that one."

He couldn't rightly see what she was doing, back there, but he found out seconds later. She dug her fingers into his sides, in a tickling motion, and he let out a surprisingly high squeak of surprise and a fit of laughter. He struggled to hold onto her, and she did it again. This time, he went towards the floor, unable to hold onto her and stay upright at the same time. Suki landed on top of him, naturally, and she stopped tickling him.

And once they were down there, it was all too easy for Suki to push him down against the floor, lock her grip on him, and pin him there. Sokka let out one last gasp of laughter and struggled against her.

"What, not going to pick me up and sling me over your shoulder?"

"I, unlike you, am not a caveman, and you must weigh twice as much as me now," Suki said.

"Ha ha," Sokka smiled, "yeah, I do." And then, fondly, he added, "Can't really pick me up, but you can still push me down!"

"That's right, I certainly can." She laughed, and then asked, "So what does 'Sokka' mean, then?"

"Er, that I know of, it has no meaning, it's just written with the characters for 'inquire' and 'card', so… yeah," Sokka grinned. "You couldn't get it."

"Inquire Card," Suki replied, "Asks a lot of questions, and…something useful in attaining an objective, as a course of action or position of strength. That sounds like it fits, to me. Or a flimsy bit of paper."

Sokka figured, for the first time, that his name meant something. It struck him, as she said it, that that's what he had been doing all along. It brought the grin on his face more strength, and it widened, and Suki smiled back at him, her eyes locked on his.

If she weren't holding his hands by the wrists, he would have kissed her right there. So he just stared up at her adoringly, and she stared right back. He was so pleased –– Suki was at ease and she was up against him and she didn't seem to have a care in the world, other than sparring with him.

At the same time, Katara, on the other side of the room, fumbled her cup and spilled it. She bent the water out of the tatami mat immediately, but that was also when Katara remarked to Toph, rather loudly, "You're lucky to be blind."

"Not really," Toph replied, "I still have to hear it, and it's pretty gag-worthy."

Sokka, in the playful banter and goofing around, had entirely forgotten about Katara and Toph.

Sokka felt the heat creep up his face, and he was unable to look at them because Suki was sitting where she obscured his vision. He said, loudly and defensively, "Hey, HEY. Don't be such prudes. We're just sparring. Nothing wrong with that, okay?"

Suki looked up at the girls and then back to Sokka, briefly. She was red in the face, herself. She said, glancing back at Katara and Toph, "Sorry. We would spar outside, if we could, but we can't."

It was raining outside, and rather hard.

Suki let go of Sokka, and he sat up. Looking at Katara, he realized she was wearing a look that wasn't disgusted or shocked, but rather one of those smirks. One of those sly, amused looks that practically dripped with smugness.

"Sparring? Oh, there's nothing wrong with sparring, no," Katara said, loftily. The smug smile didn't change, and Sokka felt the challenge.

"Wipe that look off your face," Sokka said, "Suki… Suki's a great friend, and we're close, so when we spar, we're not afraid to get, er… close. But that's all it is. An innocent sparring match."

He was trying to play this cool, but Suki complicated it with a diplomatic, "It's not like we'd degrade ourselves in front of you, Katara." Sokka was actually surprised that she was being so bold about it.

Count on Suki, he figured, to be more fun than other girls.

Toph gave a snort, and Katara collapsed into giggles. Sokka gave Suki a look, one that said the story be best left to him, because there was no way he was going to accept that Suki was outright telling his sister that they were, ah, getting close like that.

No matter how ridiculously obvious it was to every party present.

Sokka knew he was bright red, and Suki was only slightly pink. He admired her for her audacity, but he still had to say, "Someday, you'll, er, understand the human nature of, er, getting close with other people. And Suki and I are so, er, close, we forgot you were here, and we were being, uh... close."

Katara was still laughing so hard there were tears coming from her eyes. She wiped them away, helplessly, and even Toph had to stifle a snicker at that one. Katara said, between giggles, "I am so revolted right now. Sokka, ew. Ew. Seriously."

Sokka and Suki looked at each other and Suki covered her eyes with one hand, embarrassed and smiling anyway, and Sokka looked away sheepishly, though he couldn't help putting on a smile to match hers.

It wasn't terribly mortifying.



The two week mark had come and passed when Suki took Sokka's hand and said, "Let go for a walk."

Just the way she said it spoke volumes. It was just as much Suki as Sokka had originally known her -- determined, ready to grab him and do whatever she wanted with him, no matter what -- but it was also a lot of the new Suki, the Suki who planned out everything she did with him, in advance.

That, really, was how he knew it was coming, but he said, anyway, with a comic smile, "You know, Suki, once you've seen the path to the road, the river, and the frog-rock once, you've seen them a billion times!"

"We're going anyway," Suki said, and she gripped his hand firmly. Her arm was against his, she walked so close, and she and Sokka both gave Katara and Toph a casual "we're going/bye" before they took off.

(Toph was in a sour mood, it seemed, so she just grumbled, "Yeah, have fun alone in the woods." Katara didn't even reply, she was working on Aang's wounds again.)

They walked for about fifteen minutes, and then Suki took Sokka by the shoulders and pushed him down to sit on a log with her. Sokka felt it coming from a mile away, just by how her mouth was drawn into a hard line, and how her eyes were steeled.

And then it was confirmed.

"I think I'm ready to talk about it," Suki said, quietly.


	7. Mutual Exclusion

Is it sort of disgusting that every time I say "oh I'll be done in x words" the number goes up? Currently, as of the end of chapter six, we were at 100,000+ words, and I claimed I'd be able to finish it off in 120,000. I... guess not! We're looking at three more chapters after this.

(This is the longest chapter to date, get snacks.)

**Mind the M-rating. **

And onto what you're here for:



**CHAPTER SEVEN: MUTUAL EXCLUSION**



"I think I'm ready to talk about it," Suki said, quietly. Sokka lifted his head, and his eyebrows, and he shifted to sit closer to her. Her mouth was drawn into a shaky line, and her eyes were glassy again, though she didn't seem to be ready to cry.

She hadn't cried since that time she vowed not to.

"Alright," Sokka said. He paused, and she took a long breath.

"After our encounter with Azula, myself, Jia-Li and Qiao were taken to the Fire nation camp you found us in. The other girls didn't make it, or maybe they did at one point, I don't know. I was knocked unconscious at that point, but apparently, en route, we came across a unit of the Fire nation's army, and Azula took them off their route to escort us. I still don't know what else happened between then, but I came to in a holding cell when they started dousing me with ice water…"



Suki had never felt more exposed in her life.

Someone had stripped her of her armour at some point, so all she wore was her white under-robe and the close-fitting trousers she usually wore under her hakama. But even with those layers, she felt ridiculously naked, with the fabric plastered to her like a second skin. Her head ached. Her shoulders were sore. She felt as though she had been knocked around for hours, and that didn't really seem so far fetched.

The way she was stretched across the floor was more than a bit degrading. The initial shock of being woken with a bucket or two of ice water was wearing off, though the cold wasn't, and she gave a horrid shudder.

"She's awake," someone above her growled, "Fetch the Princess."

Suki moved to sit up, and she found the long reach of a halberd slipped under her chin in a matter of seconds. She froze, uncomfortable and weak on her own hands, and she demanded, "Where am I?"

He ignored her question, and he said, "Shut up, scum."

"How dare you," Suki shot back. Her mouth felt sore, too, and she ran her tongue over her teeth. One of the ones on the side of her mouth was loose, and she felt the warm flow of blood trickling. She leaned back, just slightly, and lifted her chin fiercely.

But her head was pounding and she couldn't exactly think straight. She was close to shivering, despite her furious tone. The Fire nation soldier ignored her, pointedly, and he only turned to one of his cohorts to say, bluntly, "To think we could be heading towards the drill now – instead, we'll be babysitting Princess Azula and entertaining her petty demands."

He heaved a sigh, and the guards replied, "Now, now. We should speak more respectfully of her. Back home, I hear they're prone to honouring her for just about everything she does. Wild cheers and bowing every time she takes a bite of her dinner, or something."

"They wouldn't be so fond of her if she interrupted their units," the soldier grumbled, and Suki turned her eyes to the other men, to make sure they were more focused on the conversation than her. When it was clear they were, she tried to push all the fog from her mind and she struck.

The soldier with his halberd to her throat wasn't even looking at her, so with one movement, it was easy to take the halberd by the pole and move it away from her throat, ripping it from his hands. He turned immediately when she did, but Suki aimed the handle for his gut, and she stabbed. It merely bounced off his armour, but it did give him an unexpected jab that sent him reeling backwards a few steps.

The soldiers were a bit lost in the sudden kerfuffle, and that was all fine for Suki. Even such a simple gesture like that had stained her shoulders and her pounding head, and only with fearlessness and determination did she find her feet.

It was, simply, the most uncoordinated battle she had ever fought. The element of surprise had only granted her a half-minute's advantage, and soon she was fighting them off by hand. The soldier who had held his halberd at her throat was dispatched to the floor with a shove of the heel of her palm, right up his nose. Suki felt it break.

The second came behind her and she dispatched him, too, though it took a few tries, something that cost her valuable seconds. Every time she failed to take someone out on the first hit was another time she was allowing the soldiers more time to get around the tables and chairs in the room, and into her space.

That space she had was her greatest ally, and with that in mind, Suki did whatever small movements she could use. She ran purely off of adrenaline at that point, as the fearlessness was ebbing with every time she was blocked or parried. The determination remained intact.

The third and final soldier went down when she sidestepped his lunge, and she reached up and placed a hand on the back of his neck, and shoved. She sent him hurtling into the wall, where he bounced off with a sickening crack. Suki let out a hard breath, and was disturbingly aware of how close she was to fighting without any grace at all. She was getting alarmingly close to brawling, rather than the highly structured routines she was used to.

That, if anything, was the biggest sign of desperation.

Suki didn't bother with clothes, and when she crossed the room to the door, she found she couldn't run without pain shooting up and down her legs. She hadn't noticed that, in the heat of moment, but now she found it excruciating. She grabbed the discarded halberd, and used it as a walking stick.

So, clad only in her dripping clothes, Suki reached for the door handle.

But the door came open of its own provocation – had Suki not stepped backwards at the last second, she would have been struck across the face with it. For an instant, she stared at the girl in the doorframe. Azula's lips twitched into a smirk and her eyes ghosted around the room before settling back on Suki. Suki didn't waste time on this, and she brought the halberd in front of her, swinging it in a defensive movement. It didn't matter, because Azula was far better off than she was at that moment, and Azula merely reached over and grabbed it, her hand closing over Suki's fingers.

In that silence, in that moment of fear, Suki could have said a number of things. She could have called Azula a monster, but they both knew the answer to that. She could have demanded what Azula wanted from her – that, too, had an answer they both knew. She could have taunted the princess, she could have made demands about the rest of the Kyoshi warriors, but those, too, were useless things to say.

Azula's fingers were stroking the back of Suki's hand, and this would have seemed to be a fond gesture, if it were not for the fact that she was gently raking her nails down, just enough to be cruel. Suki still didn't move, frozen in anger and fear, and Azula said, "My, my. What have you been up to?"

This barely registered in Suki's mind when Azula took the definitive step forward, closing their gap, and Suki moved backwards a fraction of second too late. Azula struck, and the halberd was wrest from her hands, and tossed to the side like it was nothing. Suki let go when Azula did, and brought her other hand up to fend Azula off.

It went by fast and relatively painfully, with no fire involved. Suki felt hyper-aware of her surroundings, of the throbbing pain in her legs, of the way her shoulders felt like giant elastics were tugging them as she lifted them. Her neck hurt. Her head pounded. Her eyesight seemed to waiver.

And then Azula had her backed up against the wall, with her hands held to the opposite sides of her body. She couldn't move. She couldn't make her legs work. It just ached too much; they just didn't want to support her weight anymore. Suki cursed her body then, for the first time in her life, for giving up before the rest of her was ready.

Azula let go and Suki dropped to the floor with a few ragged breaths. Her eyes fluttered, and she felt herself struggling to keep herself conscious. Azula seemed to find this amusing, and she knelt down to Suki's level.

Azula still wore that horrible smile, and Suki's own lips curled into an angry sneer, and only then did Suki manage to spit out a hateful, "You're foul."

"Fair," Azula corrected her, and Suki braced her hands against the floor, willing herself to climb to her feet. Azula made no effort to stop her, and Suki found her body uncooperative. She just couldn't get up. Azula said, conversationally, "But I suppose they're more or the less the same thing, aren't they?"

Suki shook her head, and she said, "About as similar as flowers and snakes."

"That's fine," Azula said, and Suki could only weakly resist when Azula took her by the collar of her shirt and lifted. The soldier accompanying her tried to help, but Azula swatted him away, and on her own she dragged Suki away from the wall and onto a chair. Suki sank against it, and found she could barely support her own weight anymore. Her breath came hard and laboured.

"Now," Azula said, "I very well could have left you in that clearing to die, Miss Leader, but I didn't. I decided, instead, that we would have a bit of a conversation. This can go either way – you can either tell me what I want to know, or you can tell me what I want to know after you've felt a bit more of the flame. What do you think?"

"I'd be glad to tell you all about the history of the Earth kingdom, if that's what you want to know," Suki replied. Her voice felt dry and cracked. She continued, "Or maybe about the art of combat, or how non-benders see the world. Maybe we could even talk about the weather. But other than that, I'm afraid I'd much rather warm up a bit."

She was almost shivering in her soaked clothes. Azula's eyebrows lifted, scorned, and she seemed to be angry at the remark, but not terribly surprised. She masked it well. She said, darkly, "Actually, I had a more important subject in mind. I know all about scum, how the ungifted fight and live, and I do believe it's still rather hot outside. I was thinking we could talk about your friend, the Avatar."

There wasn't a way to win this game that Suki could see. Azula took a seat in another chair, opposite Suki, and she folded one leg over the other, quite clearly relaxed. She said, with a devious smile, "Well?"

"Just because I've met him twice doesn't make us friends," Suki replied. Azula let out a scoff.

"Really, now."

"Really," Suki confirmed. There was a long pause, and Azula waited patiently. Suki could only feel how sore she was, at that point, and the way her clothes clung to her only heightened this discomfort. Azula waited, and waited, and then Suki said, conversationally, "Have you ever met him?"

"I've had the pleasure of it quite a few times now," Azula said, "but I think you're missing the point, here. We're talking about the Avatar and you, not me. In fact, I barely factor into this. So why don't you loosen those lying lips and tell me the truth? Where is the Avatar?"

"I don't know," Suki replied.

"Surprising, considering you had his bison," Azula said, "and seeing as it's his pet and the last of its kind, trying to convince me that it was someone else's just isn't worth either of our time. Where is the Avatar?"

She stated it simply, but there was a not-so-hidden tone of demand laced through everything she said. Suki swallowed the dryness in her mouth, and resolved to see this through alive. She kept her eyes trained on Azula, but she figured she had to buy time, too. If Azula's guard dropped enough, perhaps it was possible to take her out in one hit.

After all, nothing but pain was binding her to that chair. Suki had no broken limbs, and no bonds.

"This is purely speculative, but he could be any number of places," Suki said. "For example, he could be camping out in the countryside, trying to avoid you. Or he could be setting sail for the Fire nation, to destroy the Fire lord. Maybe he's too young to do all this and has given up and headed for his old home."

"Perhaps," Azula said, "but I doubt it. The Avatar's duty is to help people, and he's hardly capable of lasting for more than a moment, against my father. Somehow, Miss Leader, I think you're holding back."

"My name is Suki," Suki replied, "but you can call me the shihan of the Kyoshi Warriors, if it's easier. Either way, not a simple term like leader. I'm many things, but I've earned my rank above all of them."

"As long as you're the one in such a pathetic position, I'll call you whatever I wish," Azula replied, calmly, though she didn't seem impressed at all by this defiance. Suki saw it in the way her fingers curled, in the way her eyes narrowed and her eyebrows sloped.

"And what would you have me address you?" Suki asked.

"Oh please," Azula scoffed, "I don't feel like playing games with mere bugs in the dirt when I could be eliminating the Avatar from this world. Enough of these games, or I really will give you something to cry about."

Suki was blank and defiant, but if she were smiling, her smile would have faded right then. Azula's cold stare disturbed her greatly, and she could only stare back, as steeled as she could be. Azula didn't blink, so neither did she, though she felt her eyelids drooping in weakness.

Suki contemplated her answer, deliberately slow, but she seemed to mull it over in her panicked mind. She could decline. She could agree. She could simply give in and tell Azula everything, and she could be finished.

Suki tested her wrists by shifting to sit taller in her seat, and she found she could move her weight a bit. Azula noticed, but took no reply to it, because Suki said, "And if I tell you, what do I stand to gain?"

"Well, you'll live to see daylight again, perhaps," Azula said.

"A perhaps isn't a guarantee."

"A perhaps, or an inevitable death," Azula said. "Clearly, your priorities need to be straightened out, if you can't make that choice."

"At least I'd die with honour," Suki replied. In her heart, there was no other way, and while she didn't want to die, she couldn't have betrayed Aang for the world. That would be putting the entire world in danger, and the world had people she cared about. Suki's mind was made, but her own selfishness needed to be released.

"Don't worry, there are three more friends of yours I can return to, though, to be honest, I don't seem to be getting much of a response. Apparently, none of them have ever met the Avatar... but you have."

Suki let out a single breath, the fury slipping between her lips. Azula stood up.

"I'd rather cry than let you win," Suki said, and she made her move.

The die was cast, just like that, and simultaneously, Azula lifted her chin and her hand, and Suki slid forward off her seat, shoving herself brusquely to her feet for the last time. It happened so fast and so awkwardly that Suki managed to land a direct punch to the stomach.

Azula let out a seized gasp, and she stepped back to clutch her gut. Suki could barely keep herself upright, but she didn't wait – she aimed to break Azula's nose.

Had Suki hit Azula's gut harder, perhaps she would have been almost free; the movement would have winded Azula so badly she would have fallen unconscious. But, unfortunately, being mistreated had done nothing for her fighting skills, and Suki was left feeling drained and incapable of pulling it off, and Azula recovered fast enough to grab Suki's wrist before it smashed her face.

Azula twisted, sending Suki careening against the table, pretty much splayed across it, her hips against the edge hard. Azula kept her grip there, bent over Suki like an iron blanket, and she held Suki's wrists against the table hard. Suki let out a whine of pain, against her will – it just slipped out, dangerously, and Azula seemed to take it and hold it against her.

Suki could feel Azula's nails digging little crescents into her flesh, and the bite of the table's edge into her hips. Azula seemed to be disgusted to even have to be so close to hold her down.

"If that's how you want to play, stupid, I don't have any qualms," Azula growled, and Suki bit back a pained breath. She struggled, internally, to stay calm.

"I would rather die in pain than tell you anything about the Avatar," Suki said, vehemently, "I don't see what you stand to gain by torturing anyone for that information, anyway."

Azula didn't reply for the moment, and Suki felt Azula twist one arm behind her back, so high she felt her shoulder start to dislocate. Suki let out a sharp breath then, and when Azula held it there, Suki struggled to adjust to the pain. It stabbed, like she could feel the very sinews of her arms tugging apart, and Azula only relented, slightly, when Suki let out a whine and closed her eyes tightly, face against the table.

She couldn't kick, she couldn't flail, not with her arm twisted like that, and Azula's other hand so firmly on her other wrist. There wasn't really any single technique Suki could recall to escape something like that, and when Azula said, "Cold?" she decided to improvise.

"Yes," Suki growled, struggling to keep her calm, "but hot tea and a warm blanket isn't any more inspiring than this."

"Oh, there are other ways I can turn up the heat," Azula said, and at once Suki felt the charge in the air. But Suki knew Azula wouldn't do it – it was too dangerous, too likely to kill her instead of inspire her to talk. Suki let out a long breath, the bite of the table against her hips digging deep.

She said, "Your tongue isn't sharp enough for interrogating."

Azula seemed offended by this, judging by how she let out an irritated "tch" and relented. Immediately, Suki felt herself being dragged backwards, and her wrists were released for only an instant. Perhaps Azula intended to push her to the floor, or maybe she just had a lapse in judgment, too high on the power of her control over the situation. Whatever it was, Suki fought back again. She twisted, and through Azula caught one wrist reaching to chop her in the throat, the other connected with her temple, fingertips just grazing.

Azula was smacked backwards anyway, and Suki went with the movement, both because it was safest, and because Azula was holding onto her. With one hand still free, she curled her hand into a fist and struck Azula's wrist, prompting Azula to release Suki's other hand.

Free, Suki dispatched Azula by putting one foot on hers, to hold her still, and connecting her knee with Azula's ribs. It was hard for a moment, and then she felt Azula's ribs give way, a bit. Azula went down like a sack of dirt, right to the floor, and Suki fled. She took off through the door and down the hall, every inch of her body screaming in pain as she did so.

There were no guards for the first twenty feet. Then, one surfaced, and Suki hardly stood a chance. She quite literally fell into his arms, and he locked them around her in some sort of bear-hug, and as he had many inches of height on her and a considerable lot more weight and armour, it was all too easy for him to lift her right off her feet and trap her.

Suki thrashed, and her foot connected with his shin. It hurt more than it hurt him, because of his metal greaves, and her fingers grappled uselessly for a place to hit him, to prompt him to let go.

"I told her she ought to take in at least one guard," the soldier growled, and then, hauling Suki against the wall and restraining her there, he hollered for help. Help came at the same time as Azula appeared at the doorway, livid and red in the face, one hand over her chest and the other clutching the door so hard her nails were scraping the surface of the metal.

Suki didn't dare make a noise, and Azula said, violently, "Restrain her."

In Azula's voice lingered a hiss of pain with every noise.



She looked moderately okay, Sokka figured, as she wasn't a crying wreck. In fact, Suki seemed relatively calm about it, though she was far from apathetic. He could feel the rigidity of her posture against his arm, and her voice wavered occasionally.

A bit stunned at the story, Sokka said, "Wow." He didn't know what to say.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, and though Suki didn't lash out, she seemed unable to decide what he was saying "wow" to. She said, testily, "Not really."

He corrected himself with a swift, "I didn't mean it like that. I mean… wow, you held up well, and wow, Azula and her stupid Fire nation should die _in_ a fire."

"Mm," she said, noncommittally. Suki's eyes flicked off to settle somewhere on the tree line. Sokka watched her, still unsure of how to respond to it all. It was a bit much to take in so suddenly, and in so much detail. And, Sokka realized, painfully, it was just the first day.

Sokka shifted, rather uncomfortable himself, and then he wrapped his hand around hers. She pulled it away, after a moment, and then retook it, with her hand on top. He thought it funny, but didn't question it.

"Sorry I have to dump all this on you," she said, quietly.

"Oh, no!" Sokka said, "Don't feel bad. I'm glad you told me. Now I know, and we can all move on, and we all know what we're up against. We can fight her, I know we can, if we met Azula right now, we'd completely beat her down."

Suki nodded, reluctantly, and then she said, a bit firmer, "We'd beat her down so bad that Sozin would feel it."

He laughed, though it was more for the thought than a genuine one, and then he said, "Agreed."

There was another moment, this one more comfortable, where no one said anything, and they just listened to the world around them. Then, Suki remarked, "I wonder what she's doing right now." She said it in an extremely serious tone.

Sokka glanced at Suki, sidelong, and then he said, a bit teasing, "She's probably just getting out of a bath, and she's looking down at her stomach, and going, 'Wow, what a hideous mark, I sure got beat back there.'"

Suki laughed, and buried her nose against his shoulder, and they both pretended that there was nothing wrong with dreaming about what Azula was up to.



"I need your help carrying something," Katara asked, in one of those tones that was trying to be casual but just sounded suspicious. She took him by the arm and marched him off to the side. Sokka blinked, as Katara walked him out of earshot of the cabin. He waved at Suki, who waved back and then went back to chatting with Toph, who looked none too pleased.

"Alright. What am I carrying?" he asked, and Katara just stopped him in the trees.

"Nothing," Katara said.

Sokka heaved a scowl and he said, "Well, then why did you drag me out here?" He used his Big Brother voice. The exasperated one who was wasting his time on his little sister, no matter how much he loved her.

"Sokka," Katara said, using the Little Sister voice, just as exasperated but a little bit whiny, just because he was being dumb. "How did things with Suki go?"

Sokka brought himself up to the present, and he said, quickly, "Everything's fine. I think. I hope."

Katara looked at him, awkwardly, and she pulled him into a hug. She said, "It's a lot to take in, isn't it? I wanted to talk with you about it, but I promised Suki I wouldn't tell you what she told me. Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah," Sokka said, mildly surprised she would ask that. He felt the anger twist in his stomach, not at Katara, but _for_ her. Azula'd tried to kill Katara, too, hadn't she? Sokka just couldn't get over anything. Azula had to die. "Yeah, I'm just livid. I'm just thinking things I probably shouldn't."

"Mm," Katara said, and she continued, "Don't do anything stupid. Azula's... Azula's far away. She's all the way in the Fire nation by now. There's an ocean, not to mention a lot of land, between her and Suki, now."

"If Azula so much as comes one step closer to Suki again," Sokka swore, "I'll make her wish she was never born."

Katara put a hand on his shoulder, and she just held it there. There was no replying to something like that. Sokka said, "Wouldn't you?"

There was a slight hesitation, and Katara looked away. Her blue eyes were grey in the dark, her skin seemed pallid in the moonlight, and her expression was unmistakably angry. She said, darkly, "Azula's horrible through and through, and I hate her, but I still couldn't wish that on her, or any human. Traitors, though, I don't know..."

Sokka caught her look there, and he wanted to ask her about it, but Katara sighed, and she picked up a log and shoved it in his arms. She said, "Let's go back."

"Did something happen other than the face off?" he asked, but Katara was heading up the hill. "Katara? Did something happen with Azula that you're not telling me?"

Katara just replied, "No." She was being honest.

Sokka couldn't say anything more, because they were very quickly back in earshot of Toph and Suki.



Sokka let out a long breath, and he paced. He paced the room like an idiot, and he just couldn't think, nor could he escape from Suki. He couldn't talk about it to Katara because Suki was there. He couldn't talk about it with Toph because Suki was there. He couldn't talk about it with Momo because then he'd look very crazy, and, to top it off, Suki was there.

He felt so, so guilty, and it clawed in his chest like all the nails and vicious hooks in the world, it ripped at his lungs, it curled around his heart and tried to kill him. Sokka felt like he had swallowed a branch of thorns, and that they were lodged in his throat.

The more he thought about it, the more he didn't like it, and he had never liked it in the first place. The more he thought about it, the more he wished he had been left in the dark, though he wouldn't have given that information up for the world.

What to do, what to do? Sokka didn't know at all, so he paced, paced, and paced through the night, until Toph snarled at him for rattling the floor too much, and he left the house. Once outside, he climbed up onto the roof from the window frame, and so he settled on sitting on the roof, twiddling his thumbs and drumming his fingers on his knees. The girls slept, but Momo joined him, chirping.

"Hey, Momo," Sokka said, and before he could reach out, Momo had already jammed his head against Sokka's palm for a headrub. Sokka smiled, bitterly, and grabbed Momo around the middle and hauled him onto his lap. Momo struggled, grappling at Sokka's pants with his paws, but Sokka won, and Momo settled on rolling over onto his back and purring.

"I thought Katara was going to kill you, the other day, when she caught you," Sokka said, aloud, though he kept his voice hushed. "I mean, this whole 'wrapping around Aang's head like a strangle pillow' idea is crazy. Eh? Eh?"

He bowled Momo over across his knees, and he scratched behind the lemur's ears. Momo chirped and purred away at this, and then Sokka picked him up under the arms. Momo sagged, his weight draped from Sokka's hands lazily.

"I don't think Suki likes you much either, and I know Toph isn't a fan, but hey, scout, we've always got each other, huh?" Sokka said. "You're my pal for sure, you don't hate me."

Momo chattered at him and Sokka put him down. The lemur wound himself around Sokka's knees and bumped his head against Sokka's knuckles, obviously still keen on the affection, but Sokka stopped there and flopped back on the roof. Momo crawled across his stomach.

"Everything's just messed up, isn't it, Momo?" Sokka asked.

Momo just chattered back, but Sokka knew Momo got the sentiment. The lemur had, after all, taken to sleeping on Appa's nose, as if he were waiting for his huge friend to wake up and chatter.



"Sokka, we can put a pretty braid in your hair," Suki said, cheerfully, almost singsong. Sokka looked up at her from the other side of the room, where he was sharpening his boomerang, and he gave her an incredibly disturbed look.

"When the Fire nation freezes over," he replied. His eyes drifted to Katara, and he said, "You look _weird."_

Katara ignored his remark and replied, "we'll do this again by the end of the summer, then."

Sokka didn't seem too impressed, but Suki gave Katara a winning smile anyway. Katara smiled back, her generally soft features distorted by all the war paint she was wearing, in traditional Kyoshi style. The Kabuki theater make-up was so vividly white and red and black against her dark skin that her eyes shone like sapphires. Her hair was looped up in elegant coils and folds, like an Earth kingdom noblewoman, and she wore the novice's headband Sokka had found.

Suki thought that Katara looked fine in such proud make-up. Sokka didn't seem to agree with anything they were doing. He voiced his opinion with a haughty, "Nope."

"What's so weird about it?" Suki asked, lifting the paintbrush from the tin of white paint and painting the lines around Toph's face, marking around where the red would go. She hadn't painted someone else's face for years and years, and following the contours of someone else's face was strange. The sharp angles made Toph's brow seem huge.

Toph complained, "What's the point of dressing me up? I won't see it." The reminder was a bit useless.

"To indoctrinate you into their Way of the Slumber Party," Sokka said, with a faux-malicious cackle of a voice, like a witch would. He made creepy clawing gestures as he did so, and Suki laughed.

"I want to see you all made up," she said. Toph wasn't all that pleased. Suki ran the brush along the ridge of Toph's eyebrows, drawing the line sharp and angular. Toph's eyes, too, glowed under such striking white, like luminescent pale green moons, and when Suki added the red along the top of Toph's eyelids, they grew even more striking.

Katara was braiding Toph's shoulder-blade-length hair into a short coil, and braiding her bangs back out of her face. Sokka watched, bored, and he remarked, "She looks like a girl, for once."

"That's it," Toph snapped, and she moved to get up to stomp Sokka, but Suki and Katara had a hold on her.

"Toph," Katara protested, "just leave the uninspired one alone, he's just being an idiot. Ignore him." She rounded on Sokka with a loud, "If you're not going to have fun with us, go do something useful. Collect more firewood, something, whatever."

"Yeah, sounds great," Sokka replied, and he put down his boomerang and got to his feet. He headed out the door, with a yawn, and Katara clipped one last piece of Toph's hair up. Suki painted Toph's lips blood red.

Then Katara said, with a grin at Suki, "Your turn?"

"Um," Suki trailed, "sure."

She had been okay with dressing the two younger girls up in Kyoshi warrior make-up, despite how technically, under Kyoshi code, they hadn't earned it. She was fine with doing hair and all that playful stuff, but she wasn't sure if she wanted them messing with her hair and skin. She'd had plenty of girly nights back home with her friends, but no one wore make-up and did each other's hair those nights.

Those nights were about drinks and dancing and singing around campfires. Suki missed those nights. As she sat down on the floor in front of Katara, she said, "Do you think we could make a bonfire afterwards?"

"Sure," Katara said.

Katara dipped the paint right into the white paint, and she began painting it on. Suki held still, eyes closed, as if in meditation. Katara just seemed to paint her face completely white, though Suki could tell it wasn't exactly a smooth layer, and then she began removing streaks with her finger.

Suki had no idea what Katara was doing, but she was answered in a moment, when Katara started humming. It was the same war songs Sokka had hummed in front of her before. Suki, more or less, figured it out by herself.

But the longer Katara kept her still, not talking, the more Suki got to thinking. It struck her, suddenly, with Katara's red-and-white face in front of hers, that people who weren't Kyoshi warriors looked just like real Kyoshi warriors, under make-up. This brought only thoughts of one person, effectively spoiling Suki's good mood: Azula, Azula, and more Azula.

Had Azula and her friends painted each other's faces just like this? Had they laughed over how angular it was, how unfeminine? Had they grumbled over its removal, as all novices did when they earned the right to wear the paint in the first place?

Suki's mood was soured, and her heart sank, and she closed her eyes to avoid looking at Katara's face. Katara was no more Kyoshi warrior than the Fire nation girls were, but they all managed to look the part.

"Hey," she said, suddenly, surprised by how calm her own voice was, "Katara?"

"Yeah?" Katara replied, curiously, drawing her bare finger along Suki's forehead in a swoop-shape, with a single dot underneath it.

"When Azula and her friends showed up in Ba Sing Se, did you know they were fakes?"

There was an uncomfortable silence, and Toph said, "I knew. I didn't recognize any of their voices, and one of them attacked Sokka. It just gave them away."

"Right," Katara said, "They knocked me out the first time I met them. From one end of the room they looked alright, and I thought it was funny that you had changed your hair when I got closer, but then she smirked at me and I caught a glimpse of her eyes, and I knew."

Suki was troubled. She said, quietly, "Did Sokka know?"

"Sokka never met Azula when she was dressed as you," Katara said, reassuringly.

"If it makes you feel better," Toph said, and Suki couldn't help but notice the twinge of unhappiness on Toph's voice. Toph continued, "The girl who attacked Sokka, she was flirting with him and he shut her down 'cause he said he was involved with you."

Suki didn't know whether to be happy about that or upset. Sokka hadn't known?

"Suki," Katara said, softly, "are you alright?"

Suki felt so far from tears. In fact, she felt remarkably calm about it, apathetic, even, though she didn't like what she was hearing. She said, casually, "I'm fine, Katara."

"He was really, really excited to see you," Katara said, "when he was about to leave to see Dad, that's when we got the message you were here, and he was really, really excited."

She thought about it for a moment, and then Suki said, "Oh."

Her mind was clicking. It came to mind again. Azula's voice rang in her ears, so calmly telling her _"we wouldn't have been able to topple Ba Sing Se without you, Miss Leader. Thanks for your support."_

Katara was pinning Suki's hair up in loops, by then, in what Suki could assume was traditional for the Water tribe. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but her short hair could only make loops that clipped above her ears. Katara reached behind her own neck and unfastened the clasp on her choker. She held it out for Suki.

"Here, here, try this on, it'll complete the look," she said, brightly.

"What?" Suki said, honestly surprised, "Are you sure?"

"Of course," Katara said, and before Suki could protest further, she reached around Suki's neck and did up the clasp at the back, smiling all the while. The subject was firmly changed there, and Suki couldn't have cared less.

Katara grabbed the mirror from the cupboard and she offered it to Suki. Suki turned it over, and she honestly was surprised.

"A bit pale," she said, "but it certainly does look Water tribe. It's pretty. What do the symbols in the paint mean?"

Katara was going red in the cheeks, a bit, and she said, "I don't really know any war paints well, so this is bridal paint. It's all for life and hope. I think it's really pretty."

"Bridal?" Suki said, a bit stunned. Katara nodded. "It's pretty," Suki agreed, again, and then she said, reaching up with a cloth to her face, "Well, that was fun." She moved to remove it, but Katara reached over and took her hand. Suki stopped before she touched the make-up.

"Wait," Katara said, with a bright smile, "Wait until Sokka gets back! You should show him!"

Suki laughed, awkwardly, and she said, "If I didn't know better, Katara, I'd take that as you trying to set us up."

Katara said, with a funny laugh, "Ha-ha-ha, no, no, of course not, I don't need to do that. We all know he likes you a lot, I'm sure he'd like to see you all dressed up."

"As a _bride_?" Suki said, skeptically, raising an eyebrow, and Katara laughed again.

"Just go with it," Katara said. Then, with a glance at Toph, she said, "Stop scowling, Toph, we're just having fun."

"Yeah, yeah," Toph said, and Suki gave the door a glance, as if she expected Sokka to show up again so soon. Sokka didn't show, and for some reason, that disappointed her a lot more than it should have, not seeing him there when she wanted him.

Months ago, had someone asked her if she wanted to dress up like a bride for fun and show the guy she was so fixated on, she would have flat-out refused, simply because she didn't care for that sort of thing, or because it was just too goofy. Maybe she would have refused because it was culturally awkward to wear Water tribe clothing. Maybe she would have refused because Sokka didn't seem the type to care about it, then.

And then Suki remembered, just as Sokka really did appear in the doorway, that maybe Princess Yue was supposed to appear to him that way.

Katara looked over her shoulder and said, brightly, "What do you think, Sokka?"

Sokka was holding a bundle of logs and he had an expression on his face that was completely mixed. Suki just didn't know whether to interpret it as surprise, apprehension, or just Sokka being so incredibly _Sokka_. He didn't seem to know how to react to her. When neither said anything, Katara seemed to draw in a breath of worry, as if she had done something to bait the waters.

"Okay, is it weird because it's Water tribe or because it's a bridal thing?" Suki asked, outright. Sokka just went on staring at her, eyes wide, his mouth hanging open just slightly.

"Neither, it's weird because I wasn't expecting that," Sokka replied. He laughed, for no particular reason, and it came out funny. A smile tugged at Suki's lips, and he grinned. One of the pieces of wood tumbled from his arms and he looked at it and moved to pick it up, but he dropped two others in the process. Suki felt the heat creep up her ears, and Sokka flushed a bit in the cheeks, apparently flustered.

"Good," she said, triumphantly, even though she was blushing pink under all that white make-up, "I'll have you know Katara sprung it on me."

Sokka flashed Katara that grin and he said, "Well, great work, then. Suki looks gorgeous – not that she's ever anything but gorgeous, but you know what I mean."

"No problem," Katara said, and the initial flinch she'd had at Sokka and Suki's confrontation had gone. Sokka managed to take his eyes off of Suki to put the bits of dried wood down by the potbellied stove, kicking the dropped ones over as he went.

"Really?" Suki said. She didn't mean in general, she meant when she was sitting there on the floor in another peoples' style of dress. She said, "I'm far too pale."

"That's because you always wear that make-up and you never get tanned," Sokka replied, diplomatically. Suki wondered if he was going to start explaining how tans happened, scientifically, if he got any more gawkish.

It was sort of cute.

Then he went back to smiling at her, and she smiled back, and then he said, noticing Toph, "Nice make-up, Toph. You look more intimidating than usual."

She said, hotly, "Wow, I didn't expect a pinhead like _you_ to admit to being intimidated."

Sokka said, "Hey, hey, heeeey, I'm not a pinhead."

"Sure you aren't," Toph said, doubtfully, and she wiped at the make-up with her sleeve, leaving white and red streaks across the green fabric and the back of her hand. Katara, obviously concerned about the amount of washing she'd be doing, protested and reached over to grab Toph. The two launched into a dumb argument over removing said make-up.

With the two girls distracted, Sokka glanced back to Suki, who was watching Katara and Toph with a bemused expression. She just didn't get why they had to make such a big deal over every little thing, noting that the two were like sisters.

"You really do look great," Sokka said, seriously, capturing Suki's attention quite easily, and she bowed her head.

"Thank you," she smiled. Sokka moved closer, and with one last glance towards Katara, and he knelt down to one knee and moved in to kiss her. Suki saw it coming, and she turned her head just slightly, so he kissed her cheek instead. He started to inch back, and Suki was unsurprised to see him a bit hurt, so she hugged him tightly, though it was really hard to feel comfortable when he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly, too.

"Sorry," he said, his chin on her shoulder. She leant her cheek against the side of his head, the slight prickle of his shortest hair rough against her skin. She forgot entirely that she was probably getting make-up smeared on him. She laughed.

"It's okay," she said, reassuring, "just caught me off guard, there."

He kept his hold on her, and she resisted the urge to squirm uncomfortably, or pry him off rudely. Thankfully, Toph interrupted them with a loud, "Is it Sokka's turn yet?"

"Fire nation's not frozen over yet," Sokka said, quickly, letting go of Suki and sitting back on his heels, frowning at Toph. "No way."

"Aww, come on, Sokka," Katara said, laughing already. "We could put braids in your hair. It's long enough. Or, ooh, ooh, we could paint you up like a –"

"No, Katara," Sokka protested, but Toph stepped up behind him and grabbed his arm with a grin.

"Your turn," Toph said, and Suki watched with sudden fear as Toph and Sokka startled to wrestle, playful as it was. Sokka fell off his heels and to his butt on the floor, and Toph had his arm by the wrist with her hand on his shoulder, and with difficulty she pulled it behind his back. Suki watched, unblinking, unsure if Sokka had chosen to be lenient just so Toph wouldn't break his arm, or whether he was really being overpowered so easily.

"Quick!" Toph said, to Katara, "I've got him, start braiding and sticking flowers in his hair."

"Mercy, mercy, that's my throwing arm," Sokka said, loudly, and as playful as it was, Suki just had to get up and reach over, grabbing Toph's arm and slipping her thumb along the inside of Toph's elbow, prompting the younger girl to let go of Sokka as a reflex. Sokka dropped his arm, glancing up at Suki awkwardly.

"What's your problem?" Toph said, "We're just goofing around."

"Sorry," Suki replied, defensively. "You were hurting him."

Toph started to snap back, but Sokka gave her a nudge in the arm, and he climbed to his feet and slipped an arm around Suki's waist. She wasn't sure whether to lean into him defensively or whether to just outright move away, but regardless, Sokka said, "It's okay. Toph, Suki was just looking out for me, Suki, we were playing, but okay. Okay. Stop fighting? Yeah."

Suki almost glared at Toph, but there was no real point. Toph just said, stormily, "Yeah, Princess Suki always gets her way, right."

Suki said, right back, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Suki," Sokka said, testily, "please don't turn into another Katara, Momo really won't survive all that noise and screaming matches, and I'm sure you don't want to be on Toph's bad side." He added, very loudly, "Not that you have a bad side, Toph!"

Suki was mature. Suki felt she could deal with this maturely.

She let out a long breath and glanced at him. He was looking at her with his mouth turned down at the corners, though it looked more bemused and pouty than it did upset. Suki shook it off, and she let go of his arm.

"You alright?" Sokka said, concerned.

She didn't answer; she just reached up to his wolf-tail. He just stood still, curiously, watching her arms, and she pulled the tie out, so that his hair fell down. She ruffled it. It looked silly, he looked like the longhaired boys back home, and it did a lot for his face.

Suki couldn't help a smile and give a comment of, "I'm fine, but you look good with your hair down."

He perked right up with a cheery, "You think?" and Katara launched into a call of, "Oh, don't inspire him to wear his hair like that, it looks hilarious from any other angle, ahaha."

That inspired another argument between the real siblings, teasing and playful and with lots of comments about goofy looks, chosen aesthetics, and the size of the other's brain. Toph joined in, though she ignored Suki, which Suki couldn't really complain about.

As far as the battle of the siblings went, Suki chipped in the odd comment, but otherwise, she was content to just sit with them and laugh at all the silly things they said.



"Where would I be without you, Momo?" Sokka said, with a ridiculously exaggerated sigh. The lemur, perched precariously on Sokka's head, chirped, and the three girls at the table looked up. Sokka continued, dolefully, "Honestly. If you weren't around, it'd just be the Estrogen Triplets and me. Us guys need to stick together, or we'll get eaten by their fierce, fierce girliness."

Suki was looking at him with one eyebrow raised, and Katara looked confused. Toph kept thumbing the Pai Sho tile in her hand.

(Sokka had taken a knife and carved out all the paintings on the tiles, so that Toph could tell them apart, and taught her to play. Unfortunately, it made the game a lot slower, as she had to memorize where each piece was and touch them to tell, but she picked things up remarkably fast.)

"What is THAT supposed to mean?" Toph replied.

Sokka looked away from Momo and he said, "Estrogen? I read about it in a book! Estrogen is a hormone that girls—"

"I don't care about that sort of stuff," Toph interrupted, "I want to know what you mean by that!"

Suki stopped looking at him and she turned back to the game. She moved her tile, and she said, seriously, "He means he misses Aang, because he needs manly companions to talk to. Women are clearly impossible to live with, we're threatening his masculinity."

"Well, if you word it like that, you make me sound like a sexist," Sokka said, diplomatically, before Suki could beat him to it. "But what I really mean is that one more slumber party where you giggle over hair and make-up and I think I'm going to start getting urges to paint my nails or something."

"Well, _sorry_, Macho Man," Katara replied.

Suki just smiled at Sokka and rolled her eyes away. Oh, he knew what she was thinking, and he didn't mind it all too much. She could wear make-up that wasn't warpaint and like it. That was cool with him.

Toph, however, wasn't looking so pleased, and she snapped, "Do you think _I_ like doing that stupid nonsense?"

"Well, you sure do take part," Sokka replied, casually. He folded his hands behind his head and flopped back on the floor, prompting Momo to skitter over his face to get away.

"Because they force me to, and I can't break them in half to stop them!" Toph complained.

"And you secretly like it," Sokka said, teasing, "That's why you don't put up a bigger fight."

Suki looked at him funny, and he backtracked. He realized what he had said, immediately, and he said, "Also, peer pressure is the work of the Fire nation, thank you very much, let's eliminate it from the world."

Toph said, completely confused, "What?" and Katara raised an eyebrow. Suki had never looked up from her Pai Sho tiles, though her smile flickered. But Sokka, no, Sokka's good mood for the evening was ruined, and once again he was lost to the hands of guilt.



_"Hey," the guard snapped. "Hey."_

_Suki opened her eyes, snapped from her reveries about freedom. She glanced at the guard, and he said, brusquely, "Princess Azula is here. You better look alive."_

_Suki didn't nod, she didn't even really acknowledge this request, but she did swallow her breath. Her dry mouth felt as if it would crack with the simple movement. She pushed herself to sit up straighter, and at that same moment, Azula came into view. She was smirking, the wicked devil._

_"Privacy, please." Azula waved off the guard, who walked away._

_Suki stood up, on her shaky feet, and she stood in her cell with her head held high, no matter how much her knees wobbled. Azula didn't say anything, for the moment, she just waited, and then, when the staring match finished, Suki said, "What did you do, Azula?"_

_"I went and I found the Avatar," Azula said, "and I killed him."_

_Everything seemed crushed, right that instant, and Suki couldn't stifle a gasp. She clasped a hand to her chest and a hand to her mouth, and her eyes welled in tears. She let out a horrified, "I didn't tell you anything. How did you find him?"_

_"Stupid girl," Azula smiled, and Suki wanted to kill her, so disgusted to imagine someone as twisted and wretched as Azula wearing a Kyoshi uniform and striking down Aang. It all seemed tainted by her, anyway. Azula said, calmly, "I found him because I already knew where he was. I just needed a ticket into Ba Sing Se, that's all."_

_Suki stared. She just stared, and her mouth twisted uncontrollably, and she felt sick to her empty stomach. She breathed slowly, trying to keep herself calm, but it didn't work. She fell against the bars, furiously, and she seized them between her hands to shriek, "You monster, you horrible witch, you have no humanity in you—"_

_Azula said, loudly and pointedly, "—nasty, wicked scum, I don't deserve to be called human, etceteras, etceteras. I've heard it all before, at least a thousand times, I don't need to hear it again."_

_Suki just clung to the bars, face between the cracks, and she reached through to grab the front of the Kyoshi uniform. Azula moved, but not quite fast enough. Suki hauled her forward, so she bashed against the bars uncomfortably, and Azula let out a pained gasp when her ribs smashed against them._

_"Don't mock me," Suki said, "I hate you. I hate you. Why would you even do this to people if you didn't need anything? For fun? You disgust me."_

_Suki thought: _I could strangle her right here.

_Azula didn't seem to agree. Once relaxed, she brought a hand up and neatly grabbed Suki by the collar of her own shirt, and she said, so calmly, "Do you honestly think I, Princess Azula of the Fire nation, would allow you to walk free with knowledge like that? Do you think I'd let the real Kyoshi warriors run around unchecked while my team and I toppled Ba Sing Se? No, I didn't think so."_

_Suki could feel her breath catch in her throat, uncomfortable, and she couldn't say anything. Azula took this second to say, "Now release me, Miss Stupid, before I burn you up, just like the Avatar."_

_"I'd rather die," Suki said, and she spat in Azula's face._

_That, too, didn't end well for Suki. But, dizzy-headed as she was by the end of it, she did get to see Azula sulk off, nursing her lip and looking remarkably angry._



"Bad news," Katara said, as she came up the hill. Sokka looked over from his game of Pai Sho, and Suki stopped stretching. Toph didn't move or lift her head, but Katara seemed to know she was listening regardless.

She didn't wait to be asked what. She stated, bluntly, "The village is burned down."

Sokka accidentally did an illegal move and placed a tile wrong, and then swept the pieces off the table in his succeeding spastic flail. He rounded on her, shocked, "What?"

Suki let out a long breath and Toph lifted her head.

"I don't get it," Suki said, "Why would they torch everything? It just doesn't make logical sense to destroy all their spoils, and it isn't like the Fire nation can build settlements faster than the Earth kingdom. Razing Ba Sing Se was stupid enough."

"That's besides the point, Suki," Sokka said, dejected, "Now where will we get our rice and noodles from? There isn't enough fish around here, and now the market's gone!"

"That isn't the point, either, Sokka," Katara frowned, and Sokka didn't stop hanging his head. She continued, "The real point is, Fire nation is nearby. It might not be safe to be here anymore."

"There's been an occupation in the village for weeks," Suki argued, "I'm not exactly keen on staying where they are, but if they torched it, they'll probably be moving on. There's a colony down south… they'll probably move there."

"Perhaps," Katara replied, "but apparently, Azula was there."

There was an moment of silence, and before he could look at Suki, Sokka noticed the rigidity to his sister's posture at her own statement. Her eyes flicked to the corner, where Aang was lain, his chest rising slowly and surely, and then falling again. His eyes darted back to Katara, and he said, "Are you sure?!"

Suki's fingers had curled around the edge of the table.

"Says who?" Toph asked, skeptically. "Last we heard, she was back in the Fire nation."

"I met one of the refugees on the road, on my way through. She's caring for her son, and he has the burn mark, Azula's marking. It's like Zuko's, but less severe, but it's worse than Suki's for sure."

Suki seemed incapable of listening from that moment on. She was on her feet in an instant, and she crossed the room to the door. She said, sharply, "Sokka, let's go." Before Katara could say a word, Sokka had already gotten up on his feet, even as Suki was calling him.

"Wait," Katara said, as both breezed by her. Suki was slower, and Katara reached for her arm, but Suki deftly lifted it out of the way and kept going. Sokka did, too, but he spun around, and pushed by Katara again to grab his boomerang and clubs. On his second time through, Katara blocked him from getting out.

"Move," Sokka said, and when Katara didn't, he added a "Please?" Suki hovered around the edge of the hill, ready to go down, waiting for Sokka impatiently. Katara shook her head.

"What do you expect to do?" she said, "Suki couldn't take her alone, before, and even if you're an incredible fighter, Sokka, you have nothing to use against her."

Sokka looked at her long and hard, considering, and then he said, bluntly, "You couldn't take her, either, but that didn't stop you from trying."

"I had no choice," Katara replied, sharply, "you're walking into trouble again."

"Well, it's better we face it than wait for it to find us, then," Sokka said. "Now move." He stepped around her, but she moved, palms braced against the door frame, so that her body was in front of his. He tried to get around her, but she shifted in his way like a crab every time. After the fourth successive failure, he reached and grabbed her but the shoulders to forcibly move her, but she proved stronger than he figured. He just couldn't get by without excessive force.

He caught Suki's eye over Katara's head. She was hesitating, that was for sure, but she had one foot down the ledge already and he was hyper-aware that every moment they wasted on Katara was a moment Azula had to get away from them.

And they couldn't have that.

Suki glanced away, and then put a hand over her stomach. Sokka, having completely let go of Katara in favour of communicating with Suki, raised his eyebrows, confused, and Suki made a thumping gesture against her abdomen.

And suddenly, he got it.

Katara looked over her shoulder to see what he was doing, as he had gone decidedly blank and still, stopping the good fight entirely. She looked back at him, and he stared at her, worriedly.

"Sokka?" Katara said, suspicious and worried at the same time.

Sokka glanced up at Suki again, who was waiting impatiently, and then he looked down at Katara once more. His hand curled into a fist, awkwardly, and then uncurled, and then stopped half-way, ready to choose.

He really, seriously, and honestly did not want to do this, but his loyalty was instantly torn between Suki and Katara. Granted, his loyalty lied with both of them, but his action depending on choosing one or the other.

Suki needed him to help her fight Azula, who was so close, so that they could get revenge for everything she had done. For burning people, for hurting their friends, for hurting them, for everything she had done with the slightest bit of malice. This was the Fire nation they were ready to one-up.

And Katara was his sister and only looking out for him.

The turmoil could have killed him, his heart was beating so fast. Sokka could run into hundreds of dangerous situations showing no fear, but this was startling. He backed off a few steps.

"Whatever you're thinking, Sokka, don't do it!" Toph said, suddenly, and Sokka held his eye contact with Suki for a second longer. He turned to look at Toph, and she was on her feet, with her hand on the floor. He realized, belatedly, that she was reading him through the floor.

"What?" Katara said, confused, and she glanced at Toph, and then at Sokka. "What are you doing?"

Sokka lifted his hand and then dropped it, and then lifted it again, this time with his fist curled. All he needed was one direct smack to the solar plexus, Katara would be unable to stop them, as she would be unconscious, and then... well, she could forgive him later. He didn't want to do this, she was his sister, but she was stopping him from protecting everyone.

Getting rid of Azula would protect them.

A number of things happened when he started forward. Firstly, Suki's eyes widened, as if she didn't expect him to actually do it, despite how she had originally taught him to do it without any long-lasting damage, and she burst back towards the cabin at a run. Secondly, Katara's eyes widened and she let go of the door-frame, realizing how he was moving towards her again with obvious ill-intent. And thirdly, Sokka's eyes widened as he reached for his sister's shoulder to push her aside, because there were rocks climbing up his skin and holding him still, a great stalagmite rising from the floor and holding his arm still.

Sokka stopped there at a dead halt. Sokka let out a wince of pain at the harsh stone, and Katara looked up at him, stunned. She seemed unable to say anything, she was so taken aback. Sokka, too, was stunned at himself, stunned at her, stunned at everything. The two siblings held each others' gaze for a long moment, both almost in horror, and he regretted even considering it, even if he wasn't going to do it at all.

How could he have ever considered this was the right way to go about things? His face burned with shame.

"Toph," Sokka said, after a moment of embarrassment, "Let me go."

Katara's eyes were glassy, and her mouth hung open in shock, and Sokka knew perfectly well she understood what he had almost done. She just clasped her hands together and backed away, and she said, "Just what were you going to do?"

She had never given him a look so terrifyingly horror-stricken, at him, at what he had almost done, and Sokka let out a long, hitched breath.

"I, uh," he paused, and Katara found her voice.

"Were you going to hit me?" she said, in disbelief.

"Um," he trailed.

"FINE," she snapped, "Fine! If you want to go off and play Soldier again, want to get yourself and Suki killed, don't let me stop you! It's not like I'm trying to save your lives, or help you, or anything! Paint me as the bad guy all you want, Sokka, I want Azula to be brought to justice just as much as you, but knocking me out just to stop me from stopping you?"

Katara's eyes were brimming with tears and she let out an anguished sob, and he wanted desperately to hug her and apologize, too, but Toph's earthbending had locked him in one position, from one foot to his knee, and from shoulder to hand. He used his free hand to tug against the rocks.

"Katara, I'm sorry, I'm being more than stupid," he said. And it was true: attacking his sister was more than stupid, it was downright unacceptable and unreasonable. But what could he possibly do? Azula had to die. Azula _had to die_. It rung in his head like a mantra, like a slogan, like an impossible rule he had to follow.

Katara looked up at him, hurt, and she said, "You can say that again!"

Toph said, frustrated, "What's wrong with you, Sokka?" He struggled to get his head far enough around to see her, and Toph continued, "You've been nothing but a pain in the butt lately. Sheesh."

Sokka ignored her, instead focusing on Katara more, and she said, loudly, "You can't protect people all the time, Sokka!"

And that was the last straw, where embarrassment and desperation and downright anger kicked in most.

"Don't tell me I can't take care of people!" he replied, his voice cracking at the end, and he stared up at her with his eyes narrowed, and his mouth hanging open. There was something desperate about that look, something frustratingly distraught. "Don't tell me that Katara!"

"Sokka," she started, but he cut her off.

"Why would you even think that?!" he demanded, "I know I've failed before, I know things have been bad, I know that compared to you _benders_ no one cares about what I can do. But who fed our tribe? Who protected the tribe?"

"Sokka, I don't think you––"

"No, Katara!" he continued, with a wave of his arm, "No! Let me finish! There were twenty-two mouths to feed when Dad and the rest of the men left! Twenty-two mouths that _I fed mostly on my own_. 'Playing warrior', Katara? Yeah?!"

"Sokka," Katara said, loudly, and when he started to continue, she shouted, right in his face, "If you go off and get killed by Azula, I'll never forgive you!"

"Fine," Sokka said, "Fine. Let me go, Toph, I'll make my own choice, then."

Toph bent the rocks off of him, and he shoved himself past Katara, who glowered after him. Suki was staring at him, and he took her by the hand with anger shaking him to the core. He started down the hill, and he didn't have to drag her with him.

"Let's go kill Azula," Suki said.

"We're going to kill Azula," he said, and he started to go down the hill. She pulled ahead of him immediately after, she started to break into a run, but at the last minute, Sokka stopped and grabbed her by the wrist again, pulling her to a halt. He said, "Wait."

"What for?" Suki demanded, defensively. Her chest was heaving. Sokka could feel her heart pounding so hard it was making her shake, as much as he was being shaken.

He couldn't have a change of heart then. He ploughed on again, and said, "Never mind."

And that was went the security defense went up. Toph's rock walls were lifted from the ground around them like great towers, so tall that even the trees were dwarfed under their looming shadow. Sokka pulled Suki back from running into them, and they both stared up at it in anger, and then Suki wheeled around to look up the hill. The walls extended around the entire perimeter of the hut, but Toph wasn't in sight.

She screamed, "Toph, take it down!"

There was no reply. Suki turned, again, furiously, and she pounded her fist against the rock, and she shouted it again, and again. No reply.

Sokka watched her, and he could only put an arm around Suki and pull her away from the stone before she did something stupid. She fought him. She was furious, and Toph didn't even appear on the ridge. Sokka held her back until she wrenched his hands off, and she sat down on the ground with her back against the wall, and she pressed her palms against her eyelids and grit her teeth. Sokka stood over her.

"Suki," he tried, and she flat out ignored him.

There was nothing he could do but go back to Katara, and try to do some damage control. Luckily, it was doable.



"You're changing," Katara said, soberly. Sokka fidgeted in his seat, and he stretched his legs off the porch, even if it meant his pants would get wet. It was raining, and not in the dramatic way. The sky was just spitting pathetically. She glanced at him sidelong when he didn't reply. "Would you have hit me if Toph hadn't stepped in?"

"No," he admitted, "I considered it, but I didn't. I was just going to grab your shoulder and force you aside, but, well, Toph didn't know better. I… just wanted to kill Azula. It was like, well… remember when I beat up those guys in the prison? It was like that."

"I'll never forget that," Katara said, "That was terrifying. Sokka, you killed—"

"I know," Sokka replied, cutting her off, but there was no anger. Regret, but no anger. "I know. I didn't need to go so far. But tonight, for a minute, I felt the same. I just had to run. I had to find Azula and _end_ her."

"And Suki?" Katara asked.

"She's upset. Not crying or yelling or anything, but she's upset. Giving me the silent treatment," Sokka said, with a frown. Katara nodded, curtly.

"I'm sorry," Katara said, "Everything's harder without Aang…"

Sokka folded his arms and raised his eyebrows, and he gave her a skeptical, "Look, I want him back too, but… something tells me Aang wouldn't have changed much here today. Er, well, maybe he'd go into the Avatar state out of anger and we'd all have killed Azula, but that's beside the point. We can't just live like we're waiting for him to come back and solve all our problems."

There was a hefty pause where Katara frowned and looked at him, and Sokka forced himself to laugh. It even sounded fake. But he reached over and pulled her into a hug, and he said, "Look at us, we fight all the time now. We can't just keep fighting each other until Aang wakes up to play the pacifist."

"You're right," Katara said, cheek smushed against his shoulder. She hugged him so tight he thought his ribs might break, and he laughed.

He said, "I mean, Aang couldn't have saved Suki better than we could—"

Sokka realized, quite soberly, that Aang's comfort and safety was what had prevented them from going after Suki to find she was safe in the first place. Had they gone immediately, perhaps it would have been weeks, instead of months, alone in that cell. Sokka felt his stomach twist in his gut.

They had hesitated too long and wasted too much time.

But overall, it was still his fault, and that's why Suki was mad, and that's why Suki had issues, and that's why Suki would spar with him and come onto him but she wouldn't be herself while doing it.

It was his entire fault. His face burned with shame.

"Sokka?" Katara asked, and he didn't look her way. She sat back, taking her arms off him, and he lifted his hand to shield his eyes. He said nothing, and she said, "Sokka, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said, seriously, but Katara leant over and pulled his hand down. He looked away, but she saw anyway. She said, "Oh, Sokka, don't cry."

"I'm not crying," Sokka said, stubbornly. He put on a very forced smile, and he reasoned, "Men don't cry. Real men are strong."

"If they aren't human," Katara said, delicately.

"Hey, don't call me Fire nation," Sokka replied, oddly teasing, and Katara let out a sharp laugh and she hugged him again. He let her, for a moment, and then brushed her off with a polite, "But I'm okay, seriously." He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.

He stayed composed. Katara smiled, kindly, and he was so pleased to have a sister so understanding and reasonable. He wrestled with guilt. He said, "Thanks, Katara."

"Don't worry, I won't tell Toph," Katara said, playfully, giving him a nudge. Sokka glanced at her sideways, and he nudged her back.

"Phew, she'd never let me live it down," he agreed, and as an afterthought, he said, "Don't tell Suki, either."

"If you say so," Katara said. On the subject of Toph, she added with a smile, "You sure you don't want Toph to know? She needs a laugh, too."

Sokka laughed, wiping his eyes for the last time, and he said, "She does, I don't know what's gotten into her lately, she's just the grumpiest midget on the lot. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up missing limbs, every time she looks at me."

"I think she's just bored and feeling a bit ignored," Katara said, "You spend so much time with Suki and I spend so much time working on Aang's wounds that she's a bit, well… left-out."

Guilt, it seemed, came in more than just the 'She Almost Died Because of Me' flavour and the 'She DID Die Because of Me' flavours. Sokka felt it go down his throat like acid. Oh. He hadn't really thought of it, though he certainly had tried to remember everyone. He grit his teeth.

"Oh," he said, eventually. "Yeah, I guess I've been so busy that I've sort of pushed her aside…"

"Yeah," Katara admitted.

"In the morning," Sokka announced, "I'm going to invite her out hunting with me and Suki. Well, if Suki doesn't hate me. Then it'd just be the two of us, I guess."

Katara raised an eyebrow skeptically, but she smiled and laughed. Sokka did too, trying his hardest to push all his guilt into the darker recesses of his mind.



"Good morrrrrrrrning, Sunshine!" Sokka said, enthused. Hopeful. Optimistic. He was leaning over Suki with his hands on his knees, and she opened her eyes. They were big and round, she was so stunned.

She didn't reply or move, or even blink, for a moment. Then she said, slowly, "Good morning, Sokka." She shifted under her blankets, uncomfortable, and then she said, "Did you want something or did you wake me up for the sheer joy of scaring me this early in the morning?"

"Says the one normally up at the crack of dawn," Sokka replied.

"Yes," Suki said testily, "but I'm not sure if I'm really in the mood to be doing anything right now, training or otherwise."

Suki had crawled into bed without a word last night, long after the sun went down. She was looking up at him with some sort of dislike, her eyebrows drawn down. She was grumpy, even bitter. Sore from the day before, sore from Azula being able to slip from her reach without a single word. Sokka understood.

"Okay," he said, trying his best to remain bright, "Toph and I are going out fishing. If you want to go back to sleep, that's cool too."

It was Toph's turn to give him a disgusted reply. She said, almost in disbelief, "Excuse me? We're doing what?"

"Going fishing," Sokka said.

"No way," Toph replied. She, too, was grumpy. Sokka turned to look at her, and he glanced at Katara, who was covering her smile with her hand. Sokka frowned at her, and then turned back to Toph.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Don't feel as if you have to spend time with me," Toph said, "I mean, jeez, if Suki's unavailable, don't force yourself."

"Hey," Sokka said, "I'm not just inviting you because Suki doesn't want to go."

"Sure you aren't," Toph replied.

Suki propped herself up on one elbow, and Toph lifted her chin a bit more. Sokka was between the two of them, and while at first that didn't seem to be too much of a problem, it quickly became one, when Suki said, "What makes you think I'm not going? I never said I wasn't."

Sokka watched Toph climb to her feet and Suki sit up taller. The spirit of competition was suddenly thick on the air, so strong it was almost palpable, and Sokka let out a long breath.

Who knew they could be so hostile this early in the morning?

"Pfft," Toph scoffed, "You know, I'd be shocked if you weren't going, never mind that."

"Excuse me?" Suki said, "What are you so angry about? If you wanted to spend time with us, you were perfectly welcome to join us."

Sokka said, quickly, "Girls, girls, knock it off, really, don't fight—"

"Fine, Toph," Suki said, then. "Go with him, I'll stay here and sleep. I'd hate to be in your way." The way she said it was sarcastic, mildly, the same tone she used whenever she told Sokka, months and months ago, to knock it off with the sexism, but this time, her words dripped with rivalry that Sokka didn't understand.

"Sweet dreams," Toph said, angrily, and she lifted one foot as if to stomp the ground, but Sokka grabbed her arm and she put her foot down gently to balance herself. As if satisfied, Suki buried herself in her bedding again.

"Okay, okay, cut it out, let's go," Sokka said.



So Sokka and Toph went out fishing. It wasn't like Toph was much use for fishing at all, but Sokka didn't care, he liked the company, even if Toph was testy and grumpy and overly critical of him. He could deal, even if she complained almost the whole walk to the river about how bored she was, about how she was tired of hanging around in this dumb place for weeks and weeks.

Sokka liked settling down. He liked being in one place for a long time. But that didn't mean he liked being at that depressing little hut.

But that morning had worried him a bit. It was hard to be laid back when someone was antagonizing Suki, and she'd been through enough. Sure, he was happy to spend time with Toph -- Katara was right, he really had been neglecting her -- but he didn't want Toph and Suki knocking heads anymore.

Toph was settled a couple yards away from him, stretched out on a rock, and Sokka was casting out his line. He said, "Hey, why did you get so upset over Suki this morning? Over the thing with the wall last night?"

"I dunno," Toph said, skeptically, "I don't really like her."

"Why not?" Sokka demanded, probably far more dramatic than he intended. Toph folded her arms.

"She's just an idiot," Toph said, "And don't get all mad! I know she's been through a lot, but there are more ways of dealing with problems than obsessing over them. And I'm not _required_ to like your flimsy girlfriends, okay?"

"Hey," Sokka said defensively, "Suki isn't flimsy!"

"Yes, she is," Toph said, and she scoffed and folded her arms. Sokka tugged at his fishing rod, thinking he had a bite, but instead found his lure had been caught on a rock somewhere. He fiddled with the rod.

"HOW is she flimsy?" he demanded.

"I just don't like her," Toph insisted.

"Yeah, but until you can tell me why, I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that she kicks butt and isn't a bender, and that gets you all bitter or something," Sokka said.

"That has NOTHING to do with it," Toph complained. "Get it through your thick skull! Not everyone is going to consider her the greatest thing since the discovery of bending just because _you do_."

Sokka was miffed. He jerked his rod and it snapped back to him without its lure, the line broken. He grumbled, bitterly, and set on fixing it as he said, "You're jealous of how pretty she is."

Toph snapped, "I can't even see her, why would I care?" But she seemed stung anyway.

"Jealous because she's not a midget," Sokka said.

"Again, don't care!" Toph shot back.

"Well, then what?" Sokka demanded.

He managed to fix the line with a new hook and he cast it back, and Toph rose to her feet. He didn't look her way, as he was trying to maneuver the line into a comfortable position, but Toph came right his way. She reached out for him. She grabbed his shoulder, and felt her way to his cheek, and then she turned his face to hers and planted a kiss on the side of his mouth.

And then she snapped, loudly and angrily, "Because I like YOU, you dunderhead!"

Sokka dropped his fishing rod, and it clattered to the rocks, and he just leant back and stared in shock. Toph let go of his face and flushed scarlet in the face, and he could do nothing but splutter and try to find a reply.

"Er," he said. There was a weird tense moment, where he stared at her and she did nothing at all, but her hands curled into fists and he struggled with words.

"Forget it," Toph said, and she stepped back. "I know I'll never win. Forget I ever did anything, you hear? Forget it ever happened."

Sokka was stunned, but he could react immediately, then. He said, explosively, "Never win? What?! What are you talking about?"

Toph was already walking away. She said, without even turning her head back towards him even the slightest bit, "I like you, you moron!" She stomped as she went, making the ground tremble, and Sokka scrambled to follow.

"What?!" he said, stunned. He had not seen this coming, it had been a sneak attack. Toph kept on storming away, furious and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She acted like she regretted it.

Sokka caught up with her with ease, and he said, "Since when?"

"Doesn't matter," Toph said, angrily, "you have Suki, don't let me get in your way, whatever. She can show up once, and you can be totally in love with her. I don't care."

She kept going, and when Sokka reached to grab her shoulder and stop her, she shook it off. She kept on her path, up the hill and through the trees, and Sokka said, "What? No! You're joking, right? Haha, Toph? Riiight? I mean, why would you like me like _that?_"

Toph stopped, then, and he bumped right into her, and she snapped, "Does it sound like I'm joking?" She scowled and then kept going, faster, and Sokka fell behind, stopping in his tracks completely.

He let Toph go, stunned, and he realized something: why were girls so interested in guys who failed to protect his girlfriends? And then, he realized, too, quite soberly, that no one had ever told Toph about what had happened with Princess Yue.



Suki was, maybe, a bit calmed, when the walls went down. She made no effort to leave. Perhaps it was logic that kept her on the porch, with her hands folded together and her fingers laced, and her eyes closed. She was meditating. Perhaps she just didn't want to leave without Sokka, out of some innate and inexplicable fear of losing him simply by not keeping him with her. Perhaps she just wanted to know he could dig her out of any trouble she got in.

Toph had returned alone, in a sour mood, and no apology about the argument earlier and over the previous evenings seemed to put things in the right direction. Toph just didn't want to hear it. In fact, when Suki said, "Look, I'm honestly sorry, I'm not just saying that to suck up to you. I do _not_ suck up to people."

Toph just replied, "I like Sokka."

That was not the reply Suki was looking for. She said, with raised eyebrows, "I know." Toph didn't be able to reply to that, so Suki continued, diplomatically, "I knew you had a crush on him from the moment I saved you from drowning, when you kissed me. You didn't seem like the type to go about kissing people unless you were serious. And I'm sorry, but... that's too bad for you."

"I'll crush on whoever I want, I don't care if he likes you," Toph shot back, and she disappeared into the house, where Katara pulled her into conversation. Suki didn't get involved. She returned to her meditation, to her stretches, to her endless planning.

Suki had decided, in her long hours of thought, and conversation with Sokka, that she wasn't going to feel guilty for being free to make her own choices. Suki decided, really, that she would like who she wanted, she would eat and sleep on her own schedule, and she would do what she liked.

And she'd be a good person while she did it, but she wouldn't hurt others in the process.

Sokka returned back to the camp separate from Toph, and when he surfaced, Suki stood up and ran to him. He had his hands full, with a fish on a hook in one hand, and the other clutched his rod and the tackle box, but that didn't stop Suki from putting her arms around his neck and hugging them, and then letting go just as quickly. She said, as she stepped back, "I'm sorry about last night, Sokka."

He seemed funny. He said, "no problem, Suki."

"Really," Suki said, "I already apologized to Katara for everything last night. And Toph, too, but she doesn't care."

Sokka was staring at her oddly, and he said, "That's great Suki. Really great."

"I still want to go after Azula but I think Katara's right... maybe we can't just yet," Suki said, and she was well aware that she was starting to ramble. "But she might not be completely healed yet, every day we let her go unchecked is another day closer to her full recovery, and I'd rather fight her when her bending wasn't at its top notch, if you know what I mean. And I really think she has to die, she's more of a threat than the Fire Lord himself is."

"Suki," Sokka tried, but Suki didn't hear him. She was lost in her own little world.

"I think I'm ready to kill her," Suki said, "I mean, I may not be at my best, and I may not be perfect, but she can't be, either? Surely there's a way that I can work around her weaknesses and learn to turn her bending against her... it is possible, it has to be. I just have to be able to reflect it back at her."

"Suki," Sokka said, completely out of the blue, and when she didn't let him talk, he put down his fishing rod and took her by the cheek. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and she shut up rather quickly. She leant back and stared, silenced once more. He said, "Stop rambling. On the Day of Black Sun, which is exactly two weeks from now, she won't know what hit her. She'll be completely powerless."

Suki started to protest, and then she changed her direction. Suki figured, outright, that there was no point in arguing over it, she just didn't want to argue anymore. She was sick of conflict. She said, with a breathless sort of smile, "We'll take her out then."

"Yeah," Sokka agreed, and she realized he was still holding that poor fish out, and though it was very much air-drowned by now, it was also getting its lip torn out.

"Don't you want to put that away?" Suki asked, and Sokka glanced at it, too.

"Huh," he said, "I guess I should."

Suki picked up his tackle box and rod for him, and she led him back to the house, arm-in-arm. There, as they crossed the threshold, Suki skirting ahead so they'd both fit right in, she glanced at him and said, "Are you always going to do that just to get me to be quiet?"

"What? Kiss you?" Sokka said, glancing at her. His blue eyes locked on hers, for a moment, and she looked away with a smile, and he laughed. "Sure, why not."

Toph made some irritated noise, and Katara said, pointedly, "You're a doofus, Sokka."

Suki spent the rest of the day with Sokka, drawing out battle plans and reviewing fighting theory, helping him patch up the house, and aiding in the construction of a new saddle for Appa, all under Toph's watchful "eyes".

Suki didn't give a damn.



_She could spend hours playing games with questions she couldn't answer, her favourite of which was:_

_"Is Sokka going to come save me?"_

_Sokka was the one person on the outside who wasn't dead and would know that they were being held captive. If Azula even came close to him, he'd see her headband on that horrible girl and he'd know. He'd know the instant he came in contact with Kyoshi warriors that weren't led by her, and seeing as Azula was after Aang, Sokka'd know._

_Sokka had to know._

_What was taking him so long, then? Could he not find them? Could he not find her? _

_Sokka was an incredible tracker, he knew how to follow something based off of insignificant clues and educated guesses._

_Suki took inventory, for the thousandth time, of what she had dropped or left behind before she had fallen unconscious in that clearing. Sword. Fans. Headband. Comrades. Something would tip him off. Azula couldn't erase burns to trees or grass._

_Maybe he was dead? No. Suki couldn't think that, it'd spell doom for her._

_Maybe he wasn't coming? No. Suki couldn't think that, it'd spell doom for her._

_Maybe he'd met a pretty girl in Ba Sing Se and was dancing her around and kissing her under lamplight and laughing at the not-funny things she said? No. Suki couldn't think that, it'd spell doom for her._

_Suki wondered if, perhaps, she was Yue, helpless and unable to fight, Sokka would have picked up his feet faster. Maybe he thought Suki capable, and that he didn't need to rush?_

_Maybe she shouldn't have reassured him she'd be fine, but then again, how did she know this would happen? No. Suki couldn't think that, it'd spell doom for her._

_When she played these mental games, she always tried to stop, she'd tell herself aloud,_ "Sokka's going to come."_ She'd say it in a tone that tried to dispel doubt and fear, but she was wearing the message thin on herself. She didn't know. She lost hope a little bit every time._

_She said it so often that Azula didn't even smirk anymore when she said it, as if it had grown typical. Suki didn't care. Suki didn't care what Azula thought at all._

_Doom was an easily spelled word. Just three characters, less than two dozen strokes._

_Suki's eyes flicked up, and her throat seemed to constrict on her, in sheer nervousness. The guard standing against the wall had edged remarkably close to the bars of her cell, and his eyes were on her. When her eyes moved up, they caught his, and she didn't like the way his mouth twitched. Suki didn't have much sense of time down here, really, other than the once-a-day meal and bathroom break. Both of those had happened too recently._

_She broke the contact immediately, and he moved towards the bars. An involuntary shiver went down her spine, and Suki refused to let herself be concerned about it._

_But as he fished the keys out of his pocket and slid one into the lock on her cell, Suki could only square her shoulders, climb to her feet, and think one thing:_

This is the part where he saves me.

_He didn't._



They were heading back to the house when Sokka noticed Suki was walking slowly, as if she were tired. She definitely was: she had been talking for two hours, about things that had happened with Azula and within the prison, and if Sokka's brain was blown just from listening, hers must have been liquified with the telling.

She wasn't in a good mood. Her pessimism was kicking in. And Sokka's own pessimism was out and about, too -- she had cut off her story as expected, but he wasn't an idiot. He was far from an idiot. He knew what had happened and it infuriated him.

That, and, well, she had pretty much told him that he was supposed to save her before it happened. And even if she told him not to feel guilty, it was really hard not to.

"You're tired. Want a piggyback?" he asked, lightheartedly.

"I can walk, Sokka," Suki said, sharply. Sokka backed off, concerned, and Suki's voice softened to say, "I wasn't imprisoned for my entire life, I haven't forgotten, okay?"

"Sorry," Sokka said, "I just figured you were tired or wanted someone to lean on. I didn't think you were incapable or something."

"It's alright," she said. "I know. I just… oh, stop looking so whipped."

He forcibly put on a grin, getting rather into the swing of all her demands, and he replied, "I'm not sorry, then."

"Okay," Suki said, and then remarked, "You know, Sokka, it's a sad thing that no matter how hard you work, no matter how hard you strive to be strong and a warrior, you can be brought down. You can be reduced to nothing, like how Aang is just a kid, and not the Avatar, right now."

"Suki..."

"Who I am as a warrior doesn't matter," Suki said, "because no matter what, I can be reduced to a thing to be abused."

"Don't say things like that," Sokka replied, firmly, "Don't, you know it's not true. Some people are naturally great, and you're one of them."

"Then why was I there?" Suki replied, and before he could reply, she answered her own question with a firm, "Right. Because I'm weak. Because I can't bend. Because I had to work to get where I was and that wasn't enough."

Sokka had almost had enough, and he said, "Suki, stop it. Please." He reached over and took her hand, and she pulled it from his grip, rapidly, as if he had scalded her. He stopped in his tracks and so did she, just on the edge of the hill, where the house was in view.

Katara and Toph weren't around still. Sokka couldn't recall, they were out somewhere, at any rate.

"Stop what?" she demanded, look at him dead on. It was one of the few times she met him eye-to-eye in the past weeks. Sokka felt the heat.

"Stop accusing yourself of being weak," he said, for the umpteenth time. "Really, I just want you to be happy and okay, and cutting yourself down is pointless."

Her reaction was explosive.

"Then stop treating me so delicately! It doesn't matter how rough you are with me when you train with me, it doesn't matter if you're just trying to make me happy, Sokka... this has changed you, it's like Yue all over again, isn't it? I'd finally met a guy who wasn't afraid of how smart I was, or how strong I was, a guy who wasn't going to go against his own principles just for me. Someone who'd challenge me, not give me everything I wanted, I didn't want someone I could walk over in the end!"

She looked at him, hard, her teeth gritted. He wasn't sure who she seemed to hate more, right that second, him, Azula, or herself.

And then she said, again, harder, "I've changed you. Me being down changed you."

"No," he denied, again, "this isn't like Princess Yue. If it were like Princess Yue..."

In fact, he didn't know how the two scenarios would be different, because they were largely the same. Boy meets girl, girl protects boy, boy tries to protect girl and fails, and people get hurt on all sides. Problem was, Princess Yue's idea of protection was to deprive him of information, and while Suki had almost always been clear with him from the get-go, details were getting remarkably _scarce._

Then again, perhaps Sokka didn't want to know. He wasn't sure he could keep himself on his leash if she told him every little conversation between her and Azula, or every little detail. No bit of earth or water could keep him from going straight for the ringleader herself with that sort of mental weaponry.

"Don't deny it," Suki said, "it's just like Yue, and it's hurting you."

"Princess Yue gave herself up to save the entire world," Sokka said, almost defensively, "I just don't want you to die facing Azula, and I don't want you to beat yourself up over this."

"It isn't a problem," Suki snapped, "you're being the problem. I'm okay, just treat me how you used to and we can all really move on from this."

Sokka was not faring too well, here, and he snapped back at her in frustration. "What? So this is MY fault, because I wanted you to stay happy? Because you were hurt and it's so wrong for me to try to take care of you? It's not even about protecting anymore, Suki! You weren't even listening to me, you haven't listened to me in forever. Do you have any idea how scary you are now? Don't you even consider that I want to act the exact same as we used to, too, but maybe that you're so obsessed with revenge it's a bit _eerie, _but you won't even open _up?_"

"What do you mean?" Suki demanded, "Are you saying I'm so _obsessed_? I hate the Fire nation. I hate them with every bit of my being, and I thought you did too. Revenge? Sokka, I thought you wanted it too, but I guess not."

"I still hate them," Sokka shot back, "I still want to get revenge. I still want to kill every last one of them for doing this to you, don't you think of that? I want to kill them for you, I want to kill them for Yue, I want to kill them for my mom, I want to kill them for Katara, I want to kill them for hundreds of people and thousands of reasons and I _always have_. But I know we can't do it alone and you're freaking me out, seriously."

Suki opened her mouth to retort, but Sokka was too fast.

"I've been trying my hardest to help you, Suki," Sokka said, and he snapped at her like he snapped at Katara, angrily, seriously. "But you keep pushing me away and trying to distract me with this _revenge_ plot, with wanting to kill Azula, and I want to do that too, I swear, but at the same time, you're stewing in problems you won't admit to! Why won't you talk about it?! You tell me what happened, you get me all angry with it, but then you don't want to talk about it!"

"Because I don't have to," Suki shot back, "because I don't want to. Because it's in the past, it happened, big deal, I've moved on, I don't have to talk about it because it isn't a problem. You know what happened, fine, but I don't want to recall every conversation I had with that witch!"

She turned to walk away, again, to end the conversation, but he seized her by the forearms and held her there. She braced herself against his hands, and gave him an angry, warning look, and she said, "Let go of me."

"Suki, you were held for a month in a dingy little cell, tortured, raped, and abused," Sokka snarled, "Katara was right: no one gets over those things just like that, just because they say there's over it. You aren't over it."

"I am," Suki insisted. Her voice, once completely firm, became higher with stress, more strained, and her face was going red with shame. Sokka held onto her forearms gently, keeping her still, and she tried to wrench away, but he held her there.

"Suki, you change the subject constantly, I can barely get two words in before you shut me up, and you still lock up when we touch," Sokka said, "even if you're the one coming onto me, you lock up. You get as stiff as a rock. You aren't comfortable. If you were really over this, you'd be completely comfortable around me, in battle, when we're hanging out, whatever."

Suki stared at him, wide eyed, and she said nothing. She froze stock-still, her hands gripping his elbows where she had tried to wrench him off of her, but she didn't resist him anymore. Her eyes were welling with tears, for the first time since she had vowed not to, the most tears since he had brought her back to the real world.

He stared back at her, and he let go, simultaneously pleased with himself for finding the reason, and also terrified he had scared her away at the same time. She just continued to stare at him, and a tear or two slipped down her cheeks.

"You're afraid," Sokka said, much quieter. She continued to stare for a moment, and he didn't say anything. Her shoulders came up defensively, and she folded her arms and held them close to her body. She broke eye contact and closed her eyes, seemingly willing herself to calm down.

"I'm not," she said, and Sokka wouldn't have it.

"Suki, you're afraid of _me_," he repeated, and Suki shook her head rapidly. The tears kept rolling.

"I'm not afraid of you or anything," Suki replied, a definite shake to her voice. Her body shuddered, and her voice hitched.

"Suki," Sokka said, but he couldn't really bring himself to repeat it again. Suki waited for it, ready, and she lifted her head, her eyes growing red and puffy. She waited, and Sokka hesitated, and then asked, "Are you afraid of me?"

Suki crumpled. She slumped to her knees on the ground and let out a pained cry, covering her face with her hands and sobbing outright. Sokka watched her for a second and then knelt down beside her, putting a hand on her shoulder and just holding her that way, unsure of what to do. It wasn't that fantastical sort of attractive crying, Suki wasn't a weeping girl. She just sobbed, like a total mess.

She just cried for a few minutes, and when her body stopped shaking and her head calmed, she lifted her head a bit. Sokka took his hand from her shoulder and opened his arms, and she fell into them, hands curling into fists around the collar of his shirt, holding him tightly. Suki pressed her face against his shoulder, with another harsh sob, and he held her.

"It's okay to be afraid," Sokka said, "You're a warrior, yeah, but you're a girl, too, right? And while you're a warrior sometimes, you're a girl all the time, and it's not like you'd want to be a warrior all the time. No one thinks you're a loser for crying, okay, especially with what happened."

Suki nodded, rubbing her forehead against his chest, and let out a loud sniffle. Sokka cradled her closer and he added, "Besides. Aang is a weak person for getting zapped, if you're a weakling for getting caught by Azula. Between you, me, Katara, and Aang, heck, even Prince Bonehead, she's got more enemies than the Fire Lord."

"True, but I still look pathetic," she mumbled after a moment, when she had calmed enough to speak clearly. Sokka just laughed, politely, though it was really hard to muster up the humour at the time.

"Like I said before, right? When it's my turn to cry, you can't point and laugh and call me a sissy," he said, and Suki elbowed him in the ribs, but she mustered up an awkward laugh, too, despite the tears. "Got it?"

"Got it," she agreed, and she nodded. Sokka smiled, for real.

"How about we get out of these grubby clothes, sit back, and play a game or something?" Sokka grinned, and Suki hesitated, and then smiled, wiping her face with the sleeves of her shirt. The war paint smeared off, wet with tears and streaked.

"Alright. What game?" she said. "And don't say Pai Sho."

"Oh, I know a few that are really fun," Sokka said, offhand. He linked his arm with hers and gestured in the direction of the house with his head. Suki took his arm and started off with him, still wiping at her puffy, red eyes.

"Such as?"

"Ever done haiku?" Sokka replied.

Suki stared at him, almost stunned, and she asked, confused, "Did you just suggest we do _poetry?_ You? _Poetry?_"

"Hey," Sokka said, defensively. "It's not like I sit there talking about the flowers or the trees or bliss. It's like… you challenge people. I did it in Ba Sing Se with the Five-Seven-Five Society, it was a lot of fun until I lost, but Katara and Toph are really bad at it, they just don't think fast enough."

"So," Suki trailed, and she gave a little laugh and a sniffle, wiping at her eyes again, "you have poetry contests."

"No!" Sokka said, brightly, "You just have conversations or whatever in haiku form, and the first to mess up the sequence loses. It's real fun. But have you ever done haiku?"

"Once or twice, as a child," Suki said, though she still sounded bewildered and faintly skeptical. Sokka pushed the door open for them and let go of her arm to pull off his shirt and kick off his boots, and Suki went to rummage for her a change of clothes. Sokka didn't bother putting on fresh clothes, instead opting to remain shirtless, but Suki slipped into a new kimono, once she was sure he wasn't looking.

There was nothing that he hadn't seen already, really, but he was a gentleman like that.

"Either way, I don't think I've ever heard of people using it for a game. It's a parlor thing older ladies do, in Kyoshi, writing haiku. No one ever used them for competition."

Sokka grinned at her, plopping himself down on the floor, and he replied, cheekily,

_I think Kyoshi's dull._

_Compared to seeing the world,_

_Parlor games are lame._

"Hey," Suki said, though she smiled, "I don't know how anyone from a tiny Water tribe village could possibly think Kyoshi is dull."

But Sokka pointedly ignored her words and lifted his fingers. He flashed five fingers at her, then seven, and then five once more. Suki raised an eyebrow, a wry smile tugging at her lips, and as she wiped her eyes again, she sat down.

"Five syllables, then seven, and then five?" she asked, and Sokka merely gave a rolling hand gesture for her to go on. "Alright."

She tried again, counting each syllable on her fingers.

_Kyoshi is busy._

She paused, and then continued.

_Kyoshi is busy,_

_But I don't know if you'd like_

_All the hot summers._

Sokka snickered, and then replied back offhand.

_I think Suki's fun,_

_But the island, not so much,_

_As she's not there now._

"Cute," Suki laughed, and Sokka waited for her to reply. She thought about it for a moment.

She counted on her fingers as she went, sometimes going slow and taking a moment to even think of the next word. The smile on her face was big and challenging, although she knew she didn't exactly have the upper hand in a rhyme-off like this.

_Oh, you're so... dorky,_

_Maybe it's the goofy looks._

_Like your perky hair._

He laughed, and he countered back with one just as friendly,

_Your rhythm is off,_

_I say you should work on it,_

_Then try it again. _

She raised an eyebrow, and tried to stop using her fingers to count them, but it wasn't so easy. She ended up using them anyway.

_Maybe you should teach._

_Then we could do this often,_

_And I'd kick your butt._

To which he rebuffed her with:

_Unlikely, Suki,_

_But you can try all you want._

_I don't mind at all._

She said:

_Unlikely? Oh, please._

_Know that I'm a fast learner,_

_I'll take you on, Sokka._

"Wrong," he said, with a triumphant grin, "Sok-ka is still two syllables."

"Replace it with _fool_, then," Suki replied, and Sokka lifted his eyebrows, not letting that stomp on his victory. He laughed and replied back in verse once more.

_Take me on, yeah right,_

_You can't even roll them off fast,_

_Gotta be quicker._

She shot back a confident:

_I will show you quick,_

_If that's what you want from me,_

_I'll give it to you._

She was watching him with some sort of wondrous look, and he said, playful still:

_Never mind that, now,_

_There are other things I want,_

_And they are more fun._

She seemed to be feeling better, Sokka noted with a smile, and not only at this game. Her eyes weren't so red, or so glassy, and her smile was real enough. She took a pause to laugh with him after each triplet.

She replied:

_Oh? What do you want?_

_Glory, fame, power, strength, what?_

_Tell me so I know._

Definitely better. There was that challenge to her voice, her eyebrows lifted, her eyes smiling just as much as her lips. Maybe there were still traces of sadness lingering in her mind, but he was sure he could fix that.

So he said, confidently:

_I want to tell you_

_That I appreciate you_

_Way more than you know._

There was a moment of awkward silence between them, heavy and weighty, and Suki was staring at him with wide eyes, almost apprehensive. The ghosts of a tiny smile flitted around her lips, the remainder of what challenging smile she had worn only instants ago. He waited on tenterhooks, jaw held tight. She started counting on her fingers, mouthing things out silently, and then she repeated aloud.

_Only once have I_

_Been so in love with anyone,_

_and it was myself._

Sokka paused, long and hard, his mind suddenly blank, and she flushed red in the cheeks. He opened his mouth to reply, to start off with something that sounded reasonable, but he didn't know if a strangled, surprised noise counted for one syllable or two.

And then it hit him, and he replied back, grinning and flushed red,

_I really want you_

_to know that I feel the same._

_Kiss me now, baby._

Suki burst out laughing, and she rose up on her knees, comfortably, and took his face between her palms and pressed a deep kiss onto his mouth.



"We're out of money, and no one can afford to give us work," Katara said, and she sighed. "I had a whole bunch stashed away at the house, but that's of no help to us."

"We're not going back to Ba Sing Se for a couple pieces of copper," Toph said, immediately. "I don't care how much we need that money, I'd rather have my hands get cut off for stealing than go back there."

"Alright," Katara said, hesitantly. "But I'm not stealing anything from the Earth kingdom people. If we have to steal to survive, we're going to steal from the Fire nation."

There was a pause, and Sokka said, skeptically, "The Fire nation, while in the Earth kingdom, takes all its resources _from_ the Earth kingdom. Unless you're suggesting we steal their imported tanks or their mounts, or their clothes, there's precious little we could steal from them specifically that would actually help us survive here. Now, if we were going to the Fire nation, I'd say let's steal a ride or two, but as we are now there's no point."

"I don't want to steal from the Earth kingdom people," Suki said. "They have it hard enough now that Ba Sing Se's gone. People are going to start starving, if they haven't already."

"What are we going to do, then?" Katara said, "We have to help them, too."

"Okay," Sokka said, "let's focus on us first, okay, Katara? There's not enough fish and game in this area anymore for us to survive off hunting alone. We don't have money. The village is swarming with Fire nation, and right now, it's four against all of them. That's a bit crazy."

Katara said, rapidly, "Five."

Sokka looked at her funny, and he started to correct her, but then he said, "Allllright, Katara, we'll count Momo if you _really_ want."

"Aang," Katara said, with a huff. Sokka paused, and then shrugged.

"If he can sleep-raid the village, five it is, but until then, Momo's the man." Katara started to argue, or at least point out the stupidity in this logic, but Sokka had already moved on. He continued, seriously, "Is stealing a bad idea or what?"

"The Fire nation locks up thieves and takes off their hands, Sokka," Suki said, "I don't think that's a flame we want to play with too casually, but... if we have no choice, we might as well. If we take it week by week, and only risk what we need and can safely get away with, we should get by."

Sokka paused, and Katara folded her arms. Toph said, "Alright. So are we all going?"

"No," Katara said, "If we don't come back, Aang's left here alone. And even if we came back, I wouldn't want him to wake up when no one's here. Knowing him, he'll probably be upset. I'll stay."

"I'm going!" Toph said, "I'm bored out of my mind, here."

"I'll stick with Sokka, we work better as a team," Suki said, and she glanced at him sidelong. She smiled, and he smiled back. Suki asked, "Where are we going?"

Sokka contemplated this for a moment, and then he looked at Katara seriously. He held his sister's eyes for a moment, not really keen on letting her hold the fort on her own, but still confident she was able to do it, if things came to that. He paused, still, and then he asked, "If I hunt enough food to last you two a few days, Suki and I can head to the next village over and see what we can do about getting food or money."

"Hey!" Toph protested, "Are you deaf or am I just invisible?! I said I was going, too!"

Sokka glanced at her, his eyebrows knitted, and he said, "Katara's not going to keep this place safe on her own. She can't play lookout all the time, and you can feel people coming through the earth. Isn't that a job to be proud of?"

"Yeah, if you like being a dopey old guard dog," Toph said, roughly, "No, I'm going with you, and if you try to stop me, I'll clobber you."

He didn't want to keep Suki and Toph together, for his own sanity, and theirs. That was a game he wasn't too interested in continuing.

Sokka replied, immediately, "Teams of two makes more sense. You got the short end of the stick, Toph, next time. Until then, just keep this place under wraps and keep it safe."

Toph didn't argue this back verbally. Instead, she jostled the floor under his feet, and he wobbled wildly before hitting the ground. He groaned, and gave her a nasty look and said, "Agh! What's your problem?!" but she had already turned away with folded arms. She ignored him.

He watched her suspiciously for a moment, as he climbed to his feet, waiting to see if she'd do it again. When it didn't seem like it was going to happen, he said, slowly, "Alright, now that that's settled…"

She did it again, anyway, right then. Suki covered her mouth with her hand to hide a smile, and she offered him a hand. He took it with a scowl, and Katara giggled. Toph didn't smile or laugh.

"Fine," she said, clearly annoyed. "But next time, I'm going."

"Alright," Sokka said, on his feet again, and he glanced at the floor. It didn't move, and he looked back up at Toph.

"And I mean it," she said, and the floor next to him shot up into a spike. Sokka jumped out of the way, belatedly, despite the fact that it wouldn't have hit him in the first place. He jumped right into Suki, who sidestepped to avoid being knocked.

"I'll remember," Sokka said, seriously, "Until then, Suki and I have a date."



"It should take… I don't know, sixteen hours to walk to the next town," Sokka said. "We can be there by nightfall if we leave early, and that way we don't have to lose much sleep."

"Sounds good," Suki said, and she sat down to pull on her boots.

Sokka shouldered his pack, with their camping gear and some trinkets they could trade. He pulled Katara in a one-armed hug, and Toph in the other.

"I hope it's not a bad day for travel," Katara said, gesturing towards the sky. It was dreary, with only scarce bits of sun poking through the thick clouds, spread like wool over the sky. She said, "You're going to get wet if you don't wait it out."

"A little water never hurt anyone," Sokka replied, teasingly, and Katara had a rare show of immaturity when she stuck out her tongue at him. He ruffled her hair, once, in one long swoop from the back of her head to the front, so that it pretty much guaranteed she had to rebraid her hair.

"Oh, just get out of here," Katara said, with a smile, and Sokka laughed.

"See you in a few days, guys," Sokka said, and Suki smiled and nodded.

So they set off.

They took a break sometime around noon, lounging out on a bunch of rocks by the road and splitting one apple between them. Suki sat cross-legged, her yukata bunched in her lap, and Sokka sprawled back on his elbows, pretty comfortable. They passed the apple back and forth between them, made casual conversation about how much they missed snow, why the sky was blue, and how many shellfish one could eat in an hour without getting sick.

And then, just as she was talking about how some girl back home had had a horrible allergic reaction to shellfish, Suki stopped mid-sentence, and turned her eyes to the sky. Sokka looked up, as he said "What?"

Then, he realized there was a great ruckus in the sky. It wasn't Fire nation, as he initially thought as Suki's eyes narrowed, but hundreds of black birds soaring overhead, circling, and landing in the trees around them. It was cold out, with the impending rainstorms, and the sight was none too friendly. Hundreds of the creatures, with their horrible talons curled around branches, and their vertical pupils and four wings, had gathered to make the mood positively eerie.

Sokka felt the chill go down his spine. Suki remarked, her voice calm, "Black birds. It's a bad omen."

"Probably a coincidence," Sokka said, though he grew uneasy. He laughed it off with a casual, "There aren't any black birds down South, yet we get bad stuff. I'm sure it's nothing."

Suki seemed troubled, and she took another bite of the apple and swallowed it. She said, not really relaxed at all, "It's said that these birds gathered when Kyoshi died, and it's said that they flew over Omashu when her walls fell to Azula. I wonder if they took flight for Ba Sing Se, as well."

Sokka shook his head, and he said, "They didn't. See? Cycle broken. It's a coincidence, because birds don't control bad events. Besides… there isn't much left to fall."

They exchanged a look – Sokka's suddenly guilty expression at his own bitter remarks, and Suki one of fleeting despair. Then, she swallowed this despair, and she said, "I'm glad you're with me, Sokka. Thank you."

The comment seemed out of place, as sudden as her appearances and disappearances from his life. He reached over, and held her hand, and he replied, "Hey. Any time, any time."

She reached over, took his hand, and squeezed it. She said, "We'll be okay."

He smiled, and wholeheartedly agreed.

Suki certainly wasn't the type of girl guys fell for. She just didn't turn heads like Princess Yue did, Suki wasn't the beauty that ripped the breath from your lungs _figuratively_. That wasn't to say Suki wasn't beautiful, or anything: just that she didn't use her features like other girls he knew would. Suki wore make-up, pale and red and angular, and her surprisingly soft features would grow sharp and foreboding. She would fight, like men fight, a trait that likely scared off men looking for the traditional sort of girl: the kind that would keep your bed warm for you, the kind that would prepare meals and be a mother, the kind that tearily waved you goodbye as you went off to war.

And it wasn't to say that Suki wasn't capable of all those things, either.

Suki was just different.



"Want to know something neat?" Suki asked.

"Sure," Sokka replied.

Suki grinned, suddenly, and she leant in close to say, right in his ear, "I'm descended from Kyoshi, sort of."

Sokka nearly choked on his breath, and he said, "What? No way."

"It's true," Suki said, brightly, "How many people can claim to that, hm? Her mother is my great-great-great grandmother, really far down the line. So I'm not exactly _her _great-great-granddaughter or something, her sister's line is mine, but it's close. Kyoshi herself, her line died with her own daughter."

"You inherited her looks," Sokka said, with a laugh, "You should tell Aang that when he's up again. He'd probably get a laugh out of it, too."

Suki laughed, she actually laughed, and she linked her arm with his for a moment, and then she pushed herself off, and she grinned. "Want to know something else funny?"

"Sure," Sokka said again.

"You look at my eyes when you talk to me," Suki said, with a smile. "Most boys—" she stopped and made a gesture, bringing her finger up to her eye, drawing an invisible line down to her chest. Then she laughed.

Sokka laughed too. He pushed her, playfully, and kneed her in the butt. He said, with a goofy grin, "Well, I grew up where all the girls were either related to me or old, and they all wore parkas."

Suki laughed, again, and again, and again.



There was no sign of Azula anywhere in the village. There was a slight Fire nation occupation, but it seemed to consist of about two-dozen men. Considering the village was about two hundred people strong, it wasn't terribly frightening, but the Fire nation was feared and respect anyway. From talking to a villager or two, Sokka and Suki discovered that children and benders had been mostly stripped from the village, or at least those that posed a threat.

"Why?" Suki asked.

"Because they pose a threat," a female bender told them, as she shaped pottery on a wheel. Her old hands manipulated the clay with precision, bending it just slightly as it went, so that it was shaped with her bending and smoothed by her fingers. She barely looked up as she spoke. She continued, "I dunno what they've done with the children – probably camps. My husband took my children to the North pole before the Fire nation could get to us."

"Why didn't you go with them?" Sokka asked.

"I broke my hip a few years back. I can't travel, much less live in the snow," the woman said, "So I bid them farewell and now the entire village is my child. I take care of them. What business are you here on, missy, mister?"

"We're here to get food," Sokka said.

"Mm," the woman said, "not much of that, here, poor things. There's plenty of drink, plenty of money here, but no food. The Fire nation sees to that, the efficient bastards." Her old eyes, so dark that her pupils were barely different from her irises, flicked up Suki and down, and then she said, "You've already had run-ins with them, missy."

"Yes, ma'am," Suki said, and she nodded. The woman had seen the burn under her scarce bangs.

"You are a Kyoshi warrior?" the woman asked, and Suki blinked, in surprise.

Suki glanced at Sokka, who just stared blankly back at her. Suki wasn't wearing anything recognizable as Kyoshi warrior, none of the regalia or make-up, not even a fan or crest.

"Yes, ma'am," Suki said, "How do you know who I am?"

"The witch blew through here the other day looking for you," the woman said. She didn't need to use Azula's name for all to understand whom she was talking about. "In a right fury, too. What did you do, to invite such wrath, to prompt her to hunt you?"

"I didn't know she was hunting me," Suki said, and she paused, and then asked, "What direction is she headed?"

"North," the woman said. "I should hope you aren't intending to chase her. You'll get burned, missy. She's been razing villages looking for you, ours was just spared because her brother demanded she leave it be. To think, we were saved by the likes of him."

Suki glanced at Sokka again, whole-heartedly troubled, and Sokka put a protective arm around Suki's waist. He said, with a stern look, "You aren't going to turn Suki in to the Fire nation, are you?"

"Boy," the woman said, "perhaps some Earth kingdom men and women, in the light of the Fire nation's rule, will crumble and betray their own people, but most of us have pride. I would not tell for all the riches in the world."

Sokka smiled, and Suki breathed a sigh of relief. Suki bowed and said, "Thank you. If there's any way I can repay you…"

"No, child," the woman said, stopping her wheel and loosely draping a piece of cloth over the finished piece. She pulled the board off the wheel and placed it on her windowsill to dry. As she washed her hands of staining red clay, she said, "To repay me, stay out of trouble. Go to the inn and get yourself a drink, and then, disappear back to wherever you've been hiding. For your own sake, dear."

This old woman was sweet, sincere. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few coins, and she pressed them into Suki's hand.

"That will get you a small dinner. I'm sorry I can't offer more," the woman said.

"So kind to strangers," Suki said, with a sad smile, and she bowed again, with sincerest thanks. She said, "Thank you very much for your kindness."

"It's what I would do for my own daughter, why would I ever deny it to someone else's daughter?" the woman said, and she seemed pleased with herself. "Stay safe, child."



They did as the woman told them. They went to the inn.

It was crowded, though few of the rooms were taken – no travelers were that close to Ba Sing Se, to need inns – as the bar below was packed with villagers. Sokka and Suki blended in amongst them easily, as there were so many people it was impossible to decipher individuals from the crowd.

And Sokka understood why. There was a storyteller, a wandering bard, in the place. The man was big, heavy-set, with a fuzzy mustache like a caterpillar coming out of his nose. He had tiny, dark eyes, and he wore an outlandish bright green robe with an orange sash. He was literally standing on the bar, where all could see him, and the innkeeper and workers in the place would look up at him with grins.

They were listening to his news reports from around the Earth kingdom. Some seemed so outrageous they seemed to be more hype than fact – like how the army was shipping people back to the Fire nation to employ them as slaves. Others seemed remarkably and frighteningly real – blockades being set up to prevent refugees from pouring North, towards the icy lands, so that even the ones that _could_ find boats and passage across the water were being stopped.

And, interestingly enough, rumour that the Fire Lord was dead from the flu. This was dismissed rather quickly, though, when the storyteller explained that rumours such as those frequently came up out of desperate hope and wishful thinking, and that no one from the Fire nation would ever die of sickness: just as waterbending could heal the body's wounds, broken bones, and injured flesh, firebending used the body's heat to purge it of viruses and diseases, something that waterbending could never hope to do.

"We have precious little to be happy about," the man said, to all the people at the bar, with a big grin, "But I'd like to tell you a little tale, starring an Earth kingdom girl and the Princess of the Fire nation!"

_Ooh,_ Sokka thought.

"We have precious little to be happy about," the man said, to all the people at the bar, with a big grin, "But I'd like to tell you a little tale I heard from my drunkard friend this morning."

He had his arm around a Fire nation soldier, one that did look particularly drunk. As soon as he finished one tankard, he had another pushed into his hand, and the villagers seemed to be pretty amused by the way he slurred and let little things slip.

"And this fellow here, from the much-loved and much-respected and much-welcomed Fire nation, will confirm everything I've said." The sarcasm was more than apparent, but in an occupied village, there was little to be done about it.

The men and women around the bar all put down their glasses to listen, and a few let out cheers for him to go on. Sokka pulled Suki by the hand to a nearby table, and he pulled a chair out for her. She took it, with a smile, and he sat down at his own chair, still holding onto her hand. Her eyes drifted to the Fire nation soldier, and Sokka realized, belatedly, that she probably hadn't seen one since she had left her prison. His hand closed over hers tightly, and he could feel her hand growing tense and clammy under his.

They needed a good story.

"Now, see," the man said, "with Ba Sing Se fallen, the great city gone, the last Earth kingdom bastion lost and burned to rubble, we folk have little to look forward to. In fact, at any moment, our occupiers could choose to burn this humble village down, eh?"

There was a general mixed response to this by all those in the place, mingled bits of sarcasm and bad humour and bitterness. Suki looked away.

"That's why it's good to hear of a bit of resistance now that then, huh? Am I right?" the man said, louder. The crowd was getting more excited, rowdier, at this mere suggestion, and Suki and Sokka both perked up in interest. Sokka even grinned.

"So I'm going to tell you today about the misfortune Princess Azula met some weeks ago," the storyteller said, and there was a ridiculously loud burst of excited chatter from the crowd. People seemed to hang on his words immediately, the moment it was announced. Suki turned right in her chair to stare at the storyteller, and Sokka edged his chair over closer to hers.

"Do you think…?" Suki mumbled under her breath, and Sokka didn't know how to reply.

"Now, we're all heard this Fire nation talk about how incredible Princess Azula is," the storyteller said, "'Bout how beautiful she is, how the sun wouldn't rise if she wasn't there to shine on, how skilled she is. Azula is a prodigy! Is she perfect?"

(Here the storyteller nudged the drunk soldier, whose head lolled for him to stutter out a "oh yes indeed" to an amused crowd, who forced another tankard on him and giggled at the way he slurped it.)

"Well, not anymore, she isn't! And I'll tell you, if I ever have the grace to meet the one who pulled a fast one on Azula, I'll buy this whole village a round at this very bar," the storyteller said. He was obviously impassioned by his own story, at this point, and the crowd begged for him to tell them what happened. He did, detailing issues of the fight, and even Sokka felt himself fascinated and excited. Suki seemed to listen out of some vicious need to hear about Azula getting slighted, and so did Sokka, but the nature of combat just appealed to him anyway.

He liked hearing about combat.

"And this girl, pride of the Earth kingdom, pride of the entire free world, now, she did crack Azula's ribs like twigs. One swift movement, and wham. It's the talk of the army, isn't it, buddy?" The storyteller nudged the soldier again, nearly bumping him off his stool, and the soldier sloshed his drink all down his front. He looked up at the storyteller wearily, with a blubbery slur.

"Yes, yes they is," he slurred. "'Zula's not well. Went home, poor thing, s'all good fer us 'cuz we dun have to listen to her scream at us now, eh…"

The crowd laughed, and a female earthbender said, loudly, "She had it coming, with all the strife she's caused, at least one cracked rib should hinder her. She shan't be able to bend very well, now, not if her breathing's off!"

Sokka and Suki exchanged a look, and Suki said, "Azula is nothing without her bending." She then smiled, her eyebrows lifting, and she leant close to Sokka. At that moment, he just smiled back at her, until she brought her lips to his ear, and she said, so cheerfully, "I'm glad I made people happy."

Sokka paused and then said, a bit louder than he expected to, "Wait, YOU cracked her ribs!" He said it as if it hadn't occurred to him, and she laughed. A few people on the edge of the gathered crowd turned to look around at them, surprised, but before they could bring this to everyone else's attention, the storyteller was talking again.

"And this man saw it all!" the storyteller said, loudly, clapping the soldier so hard on the back that he really did go flying off his stool, only to be caught and forced back by the crowd. He choked on his mouthful of drink.

Once he was finished with his coughing fit, he said, "Yeh, that girl was purty bold ter take on 'Zula, I'mma say that much. But 'Zula got her back hard. Saw that too, yup."

Suki's look darkened, suddenly, and she almost flinched, the laughter dying on her lips and her eyes narrowing. Sokka turned away from Suki, and he let Suki's hand slip from his, carefully. He stood up, cupped his hands around his mouth, and hollered, "Can I have your word on that round for the village?"

"Sokka," Suki said, perhaps a bit upset suddenly, and a chunk of the crowd twisted to glance back at Sokka. The storyteller's attention was gained, at least, and he looked down at Sokka from his spot on top of the bar, over his great black mustache.

"On my honour as an Earth kingdom man," the storyteller said, "I will buy the whole village _two_ rounds." It was evident he wasn't expecting the girl to show up.

Sokka grinned, triumphantly, and he said, "Hope you've got your wallet ready, buddy, and that you've got enough gold for everyone."

"You know the girl, boy?" the storyteller said, confused, and Sokka nodded. There was an excited murmuring, and plenty of heads turned his way. They all seemed to put it together rather quickly – the burn on Suki's forehead, mostly, and the fact that she was sitting with him.

"Yeah," Sokka said, and Suki gave him an alarmed look. He brushed it off, with difficulty, and he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. She followed the movement loosely, limply, and he said to her, "Let's tell them all about how you survived Azula and we're getting ready to kick her ass, right?"

Suki hesitated, almost resisting his pull, and the entire crowd was watching them. Her eyes drifted to the side, to look at them, and the nearer ones started cheering her on. Her eyes moved back to Sokka, and after a heartbeat, she said, "That would be fantastic."

He laughed, and pulled her towards the bar, and he climbed up to stand next to the storyteller, and then reached down to help Suki up. She held onto his hand so tightly he thought his fingers might drop off, and once she was up, he said, loudly, "This girl is Suki, leader of the Kyoshi warriors from Kyoshi Island, and an excellent cracker of various body parts."

Everyone was cheering, and Sokka glanced at Suki, to find her smiling and flushing in the face. She looked at him, too, and he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek, careful to avoid touching Azula's telltale mark.

Then Suki laughed, and dipped into a confident bow. Caught up in the moment, she was happy, and happier still when they were pulled down from the bar for drinks and celebration.

Sokka laughed. She looked up and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he said, when he stopped laughing, and he just stared at her with a smile. She smiled back, looking puzzled. He corrected himself. "Well, not nothing. But this is kind of funny, for a first date, huh?"

Suki had a second to reflect on this, and then she smiled and covered her mouth, looking away. Her cheeks flushed a bit red, and she said, "Touché."

"Katara's gonna freak if we're not back by sundown, though, so we technically have a curfew," Sokka smiled. He took the mug that had been forced into her hands and took a long swig, and then passed it back to her. Between the two of them, they could probably demolish the thing without getting too out of their wits. Suki took a swig, too, and then smiled back.

"Think she'll ground us if we're late?" Suki asked, and Sokka shrugged.

"She might try," Sokka said, and Suki laughed again, putting down the mug on the bar, and he reached for it. She moved closer to him, nestled next to him, and she pulled his face towards hers and pressed her lips to his. He was quick to react, fully aware it was coming, and he kissed back, bringing one hand up to hold her cheek still. Her mouth was soft, and her palm against his cheek was warm.

He didn't care that the Earth kingdom men and women around them cheered and laughed at this sort of behaviour, and neither did she.

He pulled her closer to him, one arm slipping around her back to hold her close, and she let him. One of her hands settled on his chest. And that was when someone behind him tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. He reluctantly pulled away but held onto Suki, and he glanced over his shoulder. Suki looked up, too.

"Get a room, kids," the girl there said, very much teasing, and Sokka flushed involuntarily. The girl seemed to be having trouble resisting the urge to laugh the whole time.

"Advice taken," Suki said, confidently, and Sokka almost choked on his breath in surprise. He glanced at her, stunned and excited all at once. Suki made a gesture pointing up, and the girl laughed and nodded.

Suki took the mug and took a big swig, and then offered it to Sokka, who polished it off in two sips. Then, as the people watched and laughed and cheered and thanked Suki for cracking Azula's ribs, Suki seized him by the sleeve and pulled him through the crowd.

When Suki walked past the Fire nation soldier while arm-in-arm with Sokka, she couldn't take the smile from her face. In fact, she couldn't help but glance at the soldier sideways, and offer them a knowing, triumphant smirk of victory. It was for her freedom, and for her own strength.

She pulled him towards the stairs, and they went up. When the two got around the corner, the first thing Sokka did was pull her close and bring his lips to hers, but Suki ducked out of it slyly, instead taking his hand and turning her face away. He was confused and disappointed, for a second, as she had been perfectly eager only seconds before, but he was comforted when she said, "C'mon, let's find a quiet place."

And she dragged him forward, and he eagerly fell into step beside her. She took a quick scope around, and when she spotted an empty inn room, she led him in that direction. The fanfare seemed to have made her bolder, because as soon as they were out of sight from the hall, she closed the door and pushed him up against the wall and kissed him once more.

He felt kind of cool.



Sometime, when they had made out for a minute or two, experimenting with different speeds and different amounts of enthusiasm, Suki dropped to the floor and pulled him with her, so that they sat together. There, she said, with her cheeks red and her hands in his, "Do you want to?"

Sokka stared at her, and the fireworks went off in his head, and he said, "If you want to."

"I want to," Suki said. She sounded dead serious, her eyes locked on his and her cheeks flushed pink. He didn't hold her gaze for long, because he had to let his eyes rove over her body, over her pale shoulders, eyes lingering on the v-dip of her yukata, her cleavage, and the shape of her legs. Under that thin robe, she was still not quite the athletic and fit Suki he had first met, but he'd never seen her mostly undressed, then, anyway.

She was gorgeous, and she was still Suki, no matter what marks the Fire nation had left on her, in their encounter. Suki, his Suki, with her strong eyes, beautiful features, and her fierce mouth. And Suki _wanted to_.

"I want to, too," he said, trying to keep himself from squeaking in excitement. He got ahead of himself, and he said, "Sure. Shall we? Er, if you want. Which you want to. Err."

She laughed, and didn't really make a move forward. He waited, feeling great and stupid at the same time, and he leant towards her, even closer, and he said, "But this is your call entirely. Only if you're ready. Which you said you are. But you know. Pressure, and all."

Suki's smile stayed on her face, determined, though she was blushing more than he had ever seen in his life. She waited, and then she said, "Close your eyes."

He had never closed his eyes on command faster in his life. Not for any surprise had he ever been this psyched for. Sokka had it going through his head immediately, the anticipation set in, and he waited, leaning back on his hands and letting out a long breath. He could hear her shifting forward, he felt her draw herself up close to him and place herself to sit by his side, facing him. Sokka felt one hand on his shoulder and the other on the curve of his jaw, fingers brushing his neck, her palm faintly warm to the touch.

"Keep your eyes closed until I say so," she said, and Sokka gave a tiny nod, unwilling to dislodge her touch. Suki let out a breath, and he could feel her come within inches of his face. The tips of their noses brushed for an instant, and then she tilted her head just slightly to move closer.

She pressed her lips to his. She held them there, gently, and then, when it seemed comfortable enough, her lips parted a bit, and so did his. It wasn't the sudden, unexpected kiss, like three quarters of the kisses they shared. It was entirely intentional, entirely necessary, and both were set on it.

He'd kissed Suki like this before, only once. They hadn't had the place to themselves, or the time, then, and now they did. And right now, it wasn't for the sake of saying good-bye. It started tentative, but quickly grew more adventurous.

And when she paused for a second, he opened his eyes, to see hers were closed. He shifted his weight to one hand and brought the other up to rest against her waist, holding her there, and he slid it up along the length of her side, the fabric rumpling under his touch.

His heart was beating hard and her hip pressed against him, and Sokka wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. Suki paused, lips still against his, and her grip changed. The hand on his shoulder slid down his arm. She opened her eyes, and when she saw his were open, she drew back a bit and said, "Keep your eyes closed."

"Why?" he breathed, as she shifted to be more comfortable sitting across his lap. He split his legs a bit more, so that the lowest part of her back was against the inside of his thigh, her legs drawn up beside her. She kept herself close, so she was almost talking against his lips.

"Because," she said. There didn't seem to be a reason she wanted to offer, but he could venture a guess, judging by her expression. Perhaps she was hesitant to give away that perhaps not everything was pushed from her mind, but he wasn't going to bring it up and ruin her mood. She said, "It's just... looking."

"I like looking at you," he replied. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world."

She paused, too, as if she were examining him, and then she closed her eyes and kissed him again without a word. It felt nothing but good, her lips sweet and velvety against his, and Sokka relished those moments up until she pressed herself up against him, closer, and then he groaned against her mouth. His hands roved, one along her side, still, and the other settling on caressing circles on the top of her thigh.

It was like it had been on the Serpent's Pass, but somehow much better: they had traded awkwardness over one woman for awkwardness over another, and Sokka felt he could shoulder both with equal strength now. Love and hate, loss and gain, it all paled in importance.

Suki was strong, and so was he, so with that in mind, he gently lowered her backwards onto the bed, onto her back. At first, she resisted, if only because he was blindly lowering her backwards, but she let out a long, relaxed breath when he settled overtop of her.

"Thank you," she said, breathily, cheeks still pink.

"Any time, Suki, any time," he said, almost laughing, and he meant it. He supported himself on one hand, over her, and his eyes flicked down. Her chest was heaving, and he used one hand to pull her sash from its loose knot. Her robe fell open at the hips, and Suki held her breath when he put his bare hand against her bare skin, just across her abdomen.

The touch was electrifying, the sensation intensified. Sokka swallowed, out of an uncontrollable nervousness, and Suki leaned her head up to kiss him again. Her own hands rested on his forearms, altogether ready to push him away and hold him closer at the same time.

They made out, in that experimentally soft way, without the crazy, impassioned groping. Any other time, Sokka might have called this sort of gentleness lame and boring, but at the time, it was just fine for him. It was the kata of lovemaking, compared to the sparring session of lust. Both made things strong.

His hand slid down, slipping between the surface of her skin and her underwear. He trailed kisses across her cheek and to her neck, until Suki brought him back to her lips again. He didn't mind at all, because her kiss was consuming and her tongue slowly dancing about his.

Her own hands were busy, too. She moved them from his arms, boldly, and she undid the button on his pants. She dragged them down his hips, and Sokka let out a pleased "mmph" against her lips. He shifted, and stopped kissing her for a moment to take one of her knees and move them so he was between her legs.

Suki was breathing hard, and she watched him re-orientate her legs with a delirious look. They wanted each other, they knew it well enough, Sokka felt it in the way her hands trailed up his chest and pushed his shirt open, in the way she pushed the fabric away so she could touch his bare skin.

But when Sokka moved to bring her onto him, she braced herself, and then stopped him with a soft, almost startled, "Wait."

He froze, and she hesitated still. The skin on the insides of her thighs was soft to the touch, and he wanted to go forward more than anything. His eyes met hers, wondering, and he said, "Everything okay?"

"Can I be on top?" she said. "It doesn't seem as awkward."

He had a moment of selfishness, and he let a "What?" slip out without meaning to. Suki edged back, pulling her legs towards her and closing them together, and she put one hand on his chest and gave him a demonstrative push backwards. Sokka resisted, for a second, and she said, "Lie back."

They kept their eyes on each others' for a few moments.

He really hadn't imagined it this way, to have Suki above him. In his mind, he had always pictured it happening with her writhing under him, or in front of him, or something, but never above him. He and Suki had always been equals –– well, most of the time –– despite the occasional moment of strength or defeat, but somehow, he never imagined anyone on top of him.

Whenever he imagined any girl, she was there and he was being the gentleman and doing the most of the work. She could lay there and enjoy. As far as he knew, that was girls liked when it came to sex, wasn't it?

But he had to remind himself that this was Suki, and she liked to get her way just as much as he did, and he knew she was good at evening the score out. And more importantly, right now, he cared a lot more about her comfort than his ego.

Then Sokka laid back, letting her push him back until he was propped up on his elbows. Suki moved with him, moving to straddle his waist. She let out another comfortable breath, keeping herself raised above him, and he braced his hands against her hips gently.

She kept her eyes on his, and he couldn't help but smile awkwardly up at her, and she smiled back.

"Okay," he said, carefully, and let out a breath of his own. He held her where she was, and she bent over to ghost her lips against his for a brief second. He felt her take in a breath, ready.

And then she eased herself down, keeping that breath in, her eyes closed and eyebrows tensed. Sokka held his breath, too, and he slid into her. He watched Suki's face, enraptured, and her lips parted into an 'O', and he couldn't help himself.

Sokka indulged.



They departed to a small bit of fanfare, a couple people pressing coins into their hands, and in one case, Suki was given a large bag bursting with fruits and vegetables, from a teary-eyed old couple. The man was nursing horrible burns, but he managed to cry when he bowed to her and thanked her.

Suki remarked, to Sokka, "I'm stunned people care. I only cracked her ribs."

Sokka replied, with a grin, "Hey, like he said, Suki. Not much else to be happy about, you get what you can."

And with that, they headed for home, laughing and chattering and arguing the whole way home, in that cheerful sort of way. Sokka felt like they'd overcome the worst of the bumps. And once Azula was dead, and the war was over, he felt he could possibly have a great ending to everything after all.

He was in a great mood, and so was she, even when they reminded each other that they were a day _late_ getting home. And sure enough, when they got home, Katara was waiting for them. Her hands were on her hips, disapprovingly, and as they came up the walk, she said, "About time!"

"Ssh, I know," Sokka replied, with a big smile. Suki was on his back, awake but laughing, her arms hugged around his shoulders and her feet bare. Katara lifted an eyebrow, and he explained, "Suki carried me part of the way, and I carried her the rest of the way."

He glanced up at Suki and laughed, and she slid from his back with a grin.

Katara didn't want to know, but she asked, "I take it you two stopped for a while, while you were there?"

"Drinks," Suki replied, casually, "Are you hungry? We managed to get enough for a week."

"Yeah," Katara said, and her eyes darted to Sokka and back. Suki smiled, and Katara asked, "How much did he have?"

"Three quarters of a tankard," Suki replied, and Sokka laughed, draping an arm around Suki's shoulders. He leant his head against hers.

"No, no, no," Sokka said, "It was definitely less than that. Either way, that was yesterday."

"I don't think so," Suki said, wryly. "You were marvelously eager."

"I know," Sokka said. He laughed, and Katara just raised an eyebrow.

She said, "Are you still drunk?"

Sokka said, with a bright grin, "Never was. But life is good, Katara, life is good." He handed her the bag of food by the handles, and when she took it, it was so heavy it dragged her down to the floor.

She looked up at Sokka, then at Suki, and she said, "How did you get this much? I was expecting nothing."

Suki smiled, and she handed Katara a handful of coins, and they all jingled together in her palms. She said, cheerily, "You'll never believe what I did."

She hugged Sokka tighter, playful as she had been in the past, and he nearly yelped when one of her hands settled over his butt and pinched. It was mean, and he grabbed her right back, with a muffled laugh and a snicker. She pushed him off and then pulled his face closer, and planted a big kiss on his lips.

Sokka was getting into it around the same time as Katara cleared her voice and piped up with a shrill, "Forget I'm here, why don't you?"

Suki withdrew and Sokka tried not to, and he held onto her, but Suki put her hand between their faces and glanced at Katara with an apologetic smile. Sokka said to his sister, pointedly, "Hey, look, I'm trying to have a touching, romantic moment with my rib-cracking girlfriend, no one said you had to stay here."

"Well, it's kind of rude?" Katara replied, obviously finding this entire thing bizarre. She seemed to be trying to find the appropriate place to keep her eyes, and she settled on staring Sokka down. "One minute we're all talking and the next you're randomly all over each other! What was I supposed to do?"

Sokka just laughed, and laughed, and laughed.



Sokka couldn't have asked for a nicer scene.

The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle, and he and Suki had trekked down into the fields at the bottom of the hills behind the hut, a place they had rarely gone over the past month or so. The farmland there was razed, not by the Fire nation, but because all the stalks were emptied of their uses. Sokka lazed in the sunlight, and Suki meandered amongst the scrappy patches of long grass, wearing a yukata rolled up to her knees and the sleeves tied back.

The cicadas were humming nicely, the wind was making a nice noise through the fields and trees, and Suki was humming.

And, noisiest of all, and crazy enough to prompt Sokka into standing up in confusion, there was the sound of Katara shrieking with laughter.

Katara was running towards them at a breakneck speed, shrieking in some sort of joy as she went, laughing at the top of her voice. She was leaping over ledges and working her way down the hill with the most enthusiasm he had ever seen in her. He was half-tempted to ask who she was, and where his wet-blanket sister had gone, and he watched her descend with a stunned look on his face.

Suki wisely stepped out of the way when Katara reached the bottom. Katara flung herself at Sokka, throwing her arms around his neck and tossing all her weight onto him. He let out a groan and a loud complaint of "What the heck, Katara?!" as she shrieked in his ear and laughed loudly. He barely managed to keep on his feet, and he set her down almost immediately.

"Sokka!" she enthused, holding him at arm's length by the forearms and then crushing him in another hug. He yelped, and Suki laughed.

"What?!" he demanded, and then he got to thinking. The smile spread on his face, and he replied, "Aang?!"

Katara's smile was huge, and she was breathless.

"Yes, yes, _yes!_"


	8. Black or White

I think this is actually my favourite chapter so far! If you hadn't noticed, I have fun writing Azula. Figuring out her character seemed relatively simple, at first, but when I started plotting out her plans, I think they were more confusing than I could understand myself, so I was in Zuko's boat for a bit, there.

But I think it works out splendid :)

Could you imagine that originally, the only scene Zuko was in was the one in chapter two, when he's getting ready to go to the Agni Kai? You could say the story has changed a lot since then.

This chapter actually took a looong time to write, as you can tell by the delays. I'm very sorry about that, but it was a combination of school, illness, and time to sit down and rework the plot.

And yes, next chapter we get back to Miss Suki and Mr. Sokka. That chapter is currently at... 40 percent completion, I think.



**CHAPTER EIGHT: BLACK OR WHITE**



Zuko woke up to shouting and running –– when his eyes opened, all he could hear was the roars of men ordering others around, footsteps rapidly beating against the tiled floor, the loud exchanges of information. Azula was on the edge of his bed, facing him, leaning over on her arms so that her face hovered almost over his. It was so dark that she seemed blurry, like she was only a suggestion, and not a real being.

He didn't really react, it was only a dream, after all, and mother was gone again. Azula's mouth twisted up at the corners, and she seemed to wait for him to react. She opened her mouth to say something, but Zuko beat her to it.

Zuko said to himself, aloud, "Not this dream again."

"Dad's going to kill you," Azula sang, softly, and Zuko felt the shudder go down his spine, as he pulled himself to sit up. Azula sat back, a bit, and he ignored what she said. Just a dream, just a dream, he was a little boy with his life about to be ruined. Zuko felt apathetic.

He brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes, and his left eye stung like hell when he put pressure on it. He let out a gasp of pain and then brought his hands down and looked at them. There was nothing there, so he frantically brought one hand up to his cheek and felt his scar. The skin was boiled, raised in ugly bumps, and it was raw like leather.

He had his scar.

He turned to look at Azula, and realized that she was her present-day self, almost sixteen and beautiful, not some cute little nine year old. Her smile was horrible. Zuko stared at her, horrified by how real everything was, at that moment.

"Please tell me I'm dreaming," Zuko said.

"Alright, but you can't get all offended when you find out it's a lie," Azula replied. Then she paused, and then she said, seriously, "You're dreaming."

He broke out of his blankets and he pushed himself out of bed, his hair falling into his eyes. He swept it out of the way, and Azula swept him off his feet. She pressed him back, forcing him to sit down on the edge of the bed, and she said, "Don't be in such a hurry. What are you so worried about?"

"Dad's coming to kill me?" Zuko demanded, "Why is he going to kill me?"

He was freaked out. He was stunned. He was terrified. When she didn't reply, and just kept a hold on his shoulders, he demanded, again, and then said, "Azula, what's going on?"

Her face said she was amused, like she was thrilled that he seemed so dependent on her all of a sudden. Her mouth said, seriously, "That was a joke. Dad isn't going to kill you. What I really should have opened with, Zuko, is that someone killed _Father_."

He stared at her, and all at once, his stomach twisted. His guts wrenched. He felt like he was going to hurl, and all at once, he was losing another parent. The mental image of his mother came back, like a bad dream, and Azula was staring at him with his mother's mouth, his mother's cheekbones and his mother's figure, but her eyes were cold and vicious, like a snake's.

He said, all the more horrified, "What?"

"Father was found dead in his bed," Azula said.

He could say nothing, he could just try to grasp the situation. When he said nothing, she stood up and she paced over to the foot of his bed, where she leant against the post. Zuko stared at her, in horror.

Azula said, before Zuko could muster up the words for an accusation, "I didn't do it, before you put the blame on me. Trust me. I'm just as hurt as you are."

"Dad's... dead?" Zuko said, barely above a whisper, and Azula glanced at him, with a smile that was almost sad, but insincerely so. He could only stare at his bedroom wall, in shock, and Azula slid over to sit next to him. She slunk an arm around his shoulders, laid her head against his head in that charmingly condescending way.

And she said, softly, "I'm distraught, too. Everything I ever did, it was for Father, and now he's dead..."

Zuko didn't buy it for a second, but he was more concerned about himself, at that point. He fought tears of frustration, and found himself unable to cry for his father, something that nagged at him horribly. Why did he care so much about himself, when his father, the one he had been desperate to please, was dead?

There were loud slaps of boots rushing by the door every minute or so, with much shouting and orders to seal every door. Zuko heard his own bedroom door being sealed, and he did nothing to stop it. There wasn't anything he could do.

It was so dark in the room that he could hardly see anything that wasn't adjacent to the window, which was half-covered by heavy drapes. He jabbed his fingers at the candles, and they all lit up in flames. Everything danced into an unreliable relief, and Zuko felt his stomach twist when he saw that Azula seemed so terribly worn. It was the way her face looked without make-up, in the flickering light, it was the way her mouth curved down. She shifted slightly, so her cheek was against his shoulder.

It wasn't comforting for him at all.

Zuko said, "What happens next?"

Azula sighed, the top of her head against his cheek, and as she withdrew to sit up straight, her nails traced light grooves across his bare back. It was no friendlier than the times they were fighting, but the way she moved away implied it was unintentional, like she couldn't control her own claws. Zuko barely grit his teeth.

"Hundreds of political questions. Inquiries. The status quo has been overthrown, it must be maintained," Azula said. "Are you worried?"

"Yes," Zuko said. There was no point in trying to lie.

He thought, terrified, _she did do it._ He knew it. Agony better than misery, indeed – at first he had believed them to be the same thing, but now it made sense. Azula put him in more trouble. She put him in more pain, not the quiet sort that one kept hidden, the kind you couldn't resist screaming to. Agony. _Agony_. But how was that _better?_

The lights were still out and he still couldn't understand a thing. He didn't know why she'd do it. It didn't make _sense_. He was going to inherit the throne now, not her, why would she bring that about? Wouldn't she sabotage him, Zuko, her brother, and not the father that could give her that power she wanted?

Happier in the long run? How?

Zuko knew she had killed him. Zuko knew it, deep down; it was the despair in his throat and the tightening in his stomach that told him. He realized he could have prevented it, had he only stood up to her.

He was disgusted with his own weakness. Disgusted at how, no matter how much effort he made to see through what she was doing, she still managed to slip between his fingers and out of his grasp.

She was a terrifying thing to reckon with. His voice came out with a croak, a miserable sort of "Father's dead. Father's been killed."

Azula said, "I'm all you have, now. You're too old to cry for your parents. Don't worry. I'll take good care of you."



He and Azula were found together some half hour later. It didn't matter. Neither of them had spoken a word to each other in that time, and Zuko kept giving Azula questioning looks. Perhaps, he thought, she really was upset. Never once had she allowed him peace when they were in the same room, and, after all, Azula was to their father what Zuko was to their mother. Surely, it dug into even _her_ black heart, to lose her father.

But the lights, the cryptic talk from before. The lights went out, he still didn't understand.

When the servants came in, led by General Shang, they seemed surprised that the siblings were together, at least in one room. Azula was still sitting on his bed, near the foot, and Zuko sat at the head. In fact, he was sitting on one of his pillows, up against the wall with his arms folded, as if he were trying to stay away from her. When General Shang approached, Zuko leapt to his feet at the side of the bed. Azula only lifted her head, as she had been staring at a place on the floor near the wall.

"General," she said, surprisingly smooth, Zuko thought, for a time so tumultuous. His eyes drifted to the open door behind the men, and he saw that the halls, normally lit every hour of the day, were black as night, without windows. It was like someone had turned off every light, every torch, and no one had been able to relight them.

"What's going on?" Zuko asked. He felt weak in the legs.

"There is an assassin loose," General Shang said. Azula raised her eyebrows.

"Still?"

"Unfortunately."

General Shang turned to Azula, and he sank to one grubby knee. He said, gravelly and grave, "Princess Azula, I wish to know where you have been. When you spoke to me before going to bed, I assumed you would stay there, but when I went to check after the first alarms went up, you were missing."

Azula stood up, a surprisingly slow move, and she said, calmly, "When did you come? At one point, I left to get a drink, and the Palace fell into an uproar immediately after. I was concerned that the killer was still loose, so I came here, where Prince Zuko was."

Zuko's head turned to Azula so fast he pulled a muscle, but he ignored the throbbing pain with wide eyes. Surely, she was lying about that? But she seemed so calm, so sincere. But, at the same time, as if she needed comfort from him. As if she cared about him. As if she were worried about him.

"Has Prince Zuko been here all night?" he asked, and Azula didn't reply, she just turned to look at Zuko.

Zuko, mildly miffed at not being addressed directly, said, "Yes."

"I understand," General Shang said, "Do both of you understand the current situation?" The siblings nodded, vaguely, and General Shang saw fit to explain anyway. He said, "Your honourable father, Fire Lord Ozai, has been found dead in his bed. His heart was stopped by a blast of bend lightning directly to the chest. Princess Azula, the council is taking record of all firebending masters advanced enough to create lightning and will be holding them accountable until the assassin is found."

"Am I to be included in this congregation?" Azula said, her voice growing dark. General Shang seemed ready to confirm it, but he didn't seem ready to actually say it aloud. Before he could, Azula took him out of his misery: she said, pointedly, "I have been unable to bend lightning, or do much firebending at all, for some weeks, due to my injuries. Surely you're not suggesting I defied the limits of my own body to do something to my own father, who I've always been loyal to?"

"My apologies, Princess," General Shang said, and he bowed his head. His eyes drifted to Zuko, and then he said, "Can Prince Zuko bend lightning?"

"Don't be silly," Azula said, before Zuko could reply on his own. It stung, to have her admit such weakness on his part. She continued, "He hasn't been mastered firebending yet, let alone learned to create lightning."

There was a pause, and Azula turned around on the bed to look at Zuko, and through the dim candlelight, her gold eyes glowed and danced. She said, carefully, "Unless he knows more than he's let on."

"I don't know how to bend lightning," Zuko said. It was like admitting he wasn't worthwhile, a funny thing to be concerned about, when there was nothing good about being a candidate for murder. He looked away, and Azula looked back to General Shang.

"Then I ask you to get dressed, Princess Azula, and Prince Zuko. There are many meetings to be held, inquiries," General Shang said. Azula gave a curt wave of her hand, as if asking him to gloss over the details, and he did. He said to her, almost concerned, "I shall escort to your chambers, Princess, and then to the war room. We cannot be too careful in these times."

"Thank you," Azula said, and she slid off the edge of Zuko's bed, and she smoothed her sleeping robes over her thighs, elegantly. She gave Zuko one last look, and she said, calmly, "I'll see you in the war room, dear brother."

When she and the General disappeared out of Zuko's room, Zuko blinked back frustrated and anguished tears. He set on dressing himself, stabbing his feet through the legs of his pants angrily, tying up the sash of his robe all wrong, fitting the pauldron on backwards and then turning it around immediately after. But that was understandable: Zuko couldn't see, his eyes were so misted.



Zuko hadn't been in the war room since he had spoken out of turn and gotten his face scarred for it. To think that the first reappearance in the room wasn't to direct a victorious battle – it was to decide who should be punished for his father's murder – was a grave matter. The room was almost exactly as he remembered it: map of the world on the floor, though the countries had been remarked, and the large pillows for seating all around it.

He arrived before Azula. He was nervously greeted by the pageboys and pagegirls, he was given curt bows by the other generals. They led him by a low draped with a red cloth, with a suspiciously human shape underneath it. Still, no one liked him. When Azula came in, they made a great show of spine-breaking bows and lowered eyes, even when she was leaning over Zuko's shoulder and pointing at a different seat.

"That's yours," she said, "this one's mine."

"But," Zuko started to protest, but there was no time for it. Everyone was eager to start. They switched seats, and Azula slid down onto his seat like she was born to be there. Maybe, Zuko considered, she did deserve to be there.

He was just so confused, and the talking between everyone around him was giving him a massive headache. They all chattered, repeating themselves, caught up in the drama and the political ramifications of what had happened.

"Very well," General Shang said, "if we could all quiet down, we could get started. We have a lot of information to share tonight, and a lot of important decisions to make. No one leaves until we're done. First order of business –– the killer."

Azula was settled. She folded one leg over the other and said, calmly, "Have you caught the perpetrator?"

"There are only five people in this palace capable of bending lightning," a man named General Choi said, "Fire Lord Ozai himself, his daughter Princess Azula, General Shang, General Rhee, and myself."

"State your alibi," Azula said. "Where were you tonight, General Choi?"

The general stood up, though this made little difference to his height. He wasn't tall at all, though he certainly could bear the weight of his armor. What he lacked in height, he made up for in width.

"The officers of my unit and I were discussing ex-General Iroh's escape," he said. He started to continue, and Zuko perked up to listen intently, but Azula cut him off.

"Excused," she said, "General Rhee?"

(General Rhee was a woman who led the women's units, small and scarce as they were. She was, curiously, not much of a warrior. Her skill rested entirely with negotiations and special missions, as the women's units rarely were placed on the regular battlefields. Despite her general non-participation in battles themselves, she carried a type of flag spear called a "keechang", and was well-known for it.)

"I was sleeping," General Rhee replied, "General Shang woke me to inform me of the situation."

"General Shang and I spoke before I went to bed," Azula said, "therefore, we are both excused."

Zuko didn't like, at all, how no one was contesting these excuses, but it occurred to him that it didn't matter: every single person in this room knew who did it. They all knew it was Azula, not a single one doubted it, as almost these same people had gathered here years ago, to discuss Azulon's death. They were all playing into it, pretending they had no idea, and yet it was so painfully clear.

The conversation drifted for a moment about the possibility of suicide, but that was ruled out rather quickly, seeing as his bed was set up perfectly, and his guards were both slaughtered. Suicide had happened twice in the Royal family's history –– over three hundred years ago, Prince Sado, and then two centuries earlier, with Prince Yinreng and his mistress.

"Very well, on the subject of who inherits the throne... Princess Azula still officially holds the title of the Crown, but Fire Lord Ozai had made his intention to make Zuko his heir clear, though there has been no official coronation yet. However, there are complications further than that."

Zuko glanced at Azula. She looked annoyed, and she leant forward in her seat, as if she weren't hearing things right. She said, testily, "How could there possibly be a complication if I was titled heir apparent, and Zuko is only by what may have been a passing idea, or thought?"

"My apologies, Princess," General Shang said, "exceptions have been made for you in all high-ranking positions –– you are the first woman to ever be granted permission to control the men's unit, that in itself is incredible –– but the position of Fire Lord deals in both military AND civilian affairs––"

"I know what I've accomplished better than anyone," Azula interrupted. "And I know what being Fire Lord entails. My father _raised_ me to succeed him. However, I would have expected that the bill for right-to-rule would be effective by now."

There was a slight pause where General Shang said nothing, and Zuko asked, "What bill?"

"It's been in negotiation for a year," Azula said, calmly, "so that I would be able to take the throne as a woman, and not under a male title. I'd rather be Fire Lady than Fire Lord, though it's a small matter."

"Unfortunately," General Shang said, "the bill lacks the Fire Lord's signature. Without it, Princess, no matter how you were groomed as a child, no matter what Ozai's intentions were, you cannot be crowned. At best, to conform to the laws set down by your great-great-grandfather, Fire Lord Zutan, which states that your husband could rule."

"Unless I was promised as a child and not informed of it," Azula said, cooly, "that's not an option. Negotiations and bids for an arranged marriage are to begin on my sixteenth birthday, not before. There is another option, however, that doesn't require that."

"Do you have an alternate idea?"

"Joint rule with Prince Zuko," Azula said, calmly, and the entire room fell silent. Zuko looked at her, immediately catching on to what she was saying. "Twin thrones, we could rule together."

"You're--" Zuko started, but Azula was too fast.

She denied what he feared most. She said, "We could rule as brother and sister, together."

He was stunned she would even offer, and the rest of the room did, too. She seemed so vehement about adopting the throne that it seemed unlikely that she would share it. In fact, Azula never shared anything. Azula would never let Zuko touch her things, now or ever.

"And let you usurp all the power? No," Zuko said, firmly. "I would never rule _with_ you, there would never be any progress at all." He left off the bit at the end, where he wanted to say he'd rather not rule at all than rule with her. He didn't want to give her ideas to build off of.

"Then give a reason other than _in the future,"_ Azula said, and Zuko just glowered at her.

"There remains two options to us, then," another General said. His name was General Dong-Sun, he was a man who had spent much of his time in the colonies. He explained, "Firstly, as Prince Zuko was not going to be crowned as heir until this evening, Princess Azula technically holds the Crown, and should be made Fire Lord. However, this is conflicting, as women do not hold the right to rule. That bill has yet to be passed."

Zuko glanced at Azula, and then back to General Dong-Sun, in an excited sort of flurry. She couldn't rule. Azula couldn't take the throne. That left the only place to him, didn't it? Zuko sat up straighter in his seat, prouder, and Azula didn't even flinch.

"How long is it until the tradition is changed?" Azula replied. "I've read the documents myself, records dating back to before Fire Lord Izanagi. For six hundred years, no woman has ruled alone, even in situations where there have been no other heirs. Would you pass the throne to someone less worthy merely because they are male? I find this a stupid practice."

"We know you do," one of the Generals said, a thin, wiry man with a weak chin. He said, with a sniffy sort of condescending tone, "you've been pushing for his bill for two years. Never before has a woman in the Fire nation commanded an elite army, you've already broken convention enough. Have patience. Zuko is the first born, even if he was shamed. Fire Lord Ozai clearly wanted him back if he intended to place him on the throne--"

Azula was on her feet in an instant, and she said, coldly, "Would you dare speak against me, General Tsuneo? I won't have it."

"It's my birthright," Zuko piped up, and though a few Generals glanced at him, most ignored him. Azula didn't even seem to hear him. So he repeated himself louder, and they all looked, falling silent.

It was a lot like being in his father's war room the first time, when he had spoken for the poor new soldiers, boys barely older than him. They had stared at him, stunned and angry at his objections. And now, they were staring, not with astonishment or with anger, but with pity. Azula was the only one who offered him any sort of malice, and she hid it well, with a simple frown.

"General Dong-Sun," Azula piped up, before Zuko could state his case. "Legally, I am entitled to my inheritance. My father's intention may have been to make Zuko his heir, but as of his death, Zuko was not officially made heir. The papers were not signed, the ceremony was not completed, and therefore, I am still the Crown Princess."

"Whatever your father's intentions were, Princess," General Dong-Sun said, "we can not guess. For all we know, he could have died while planning to give the Earth kingdom back to its people…"

This was interrupted by a heavy barrage of laughter from all the men in the room, leaving Azula and Zuko the only two in silence. Zuko stared stonily ahead; he was trying to keep up, so utterly twisted up inside. Azula remained on her feet, angrily. When the laughter lasted for more than thirty seconds, she slammed her fist on the surface of the table, and the entire room fell silent, laughter slaughtered in their throats.

They all stared at Azula, a lot of grown men, battle-hardened men, wise, intelligent men, all whipped into submission by a teenaged girl.

"Are you suggesting this situation is funny?" she demanded. There was another moment of silence, and she continued, "I didn't _think_ so. The Fire Lord, my father, the beloved leader of our great nation. He is _dead_ and you are giggling like _schoolgirls_."

The silence reigned.

"I demand you cease this foolish behaviour at once and get back to the task at hand," Azula said, and she slapped the flat of her palm against the table once more. A few Generals jumped, and Zuko grit his teeth. She said, "To not do so would be a disrespect to your nation, to your honour, and above all, to me. Now apologize."

To Zuko's discomfort, there was a murmured reply, apologies, and the bowing of many heads.

"Princess," General Tsuneo said, "your bill to allow women to rule needs the signatures of every General in this panel, and the signature of the Fire Lord."

"Which of you hasn't signed?" Azula demanded.

There was silence, and a show of hands. Two hands went up, one immediately, and the other slowly, almost shyly. General Tsuneo's hand was held up high, proudly, while General Shang's inched up weakly.

Azula's eyes landed on General Shang like a viper. She said, voice dripping with poison, "Might I ask why?"

"I've been too busy to review the bill in its entirety, Princess," General Shang said, "I still have to finish reviewing the history, and the proposed new regulations, and, there is, of course, the reaction of the public to consider—"

"General Shang," Azula interrupted, "am I to take your hesitation as a personal statement against the Crown Princess, or am I to believe that you're wrapped up in your sexism? Or is it both? It's a simple process."

General Shang lowered his head, and he said, "Princess, I remain loyal to you. This is merely a larger--"

"Do you?" Azula interrupted, yet again. No one seemed to have the courage to cut her off, to interrupt her. She commanded the room with fear, and Zuko wondered why any of them so much as considered putting her on the throne. Azula continued, "I feel I have more than proved my worth. I toppled Ba Sing Se and Omashu. I killed the Avatar. Most men don't even come close to one of those, let alone succeed in all three. If there is someone else who would rule this nation better, point him or her out, because I fail to recognize anyone."

Zuko had enough. He said, "I want my birthright." He said it loudly, clearly, and Azula still ignored him.

"Well?" she prompted, to the room.

"Azula, I want my birthright," he said, even louder, standing up. Azula's gold eyes flicked to him for an instant, and he grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to face him. She didn't fight him, but she lifted her sharp chin in defiance. He said, "I _want_ my _birthright_."

"Don't touch me," Azula said, whisking his hand off her shoulder with a swat of her hand. She turned back to the room, calmly, and she said, "Gentlemen, what has this boy done for his country?"

Zuko regretted speaking up, because he realized, right then, next to Azula, he had nothing. All he had was a desire, and even peasant boys walking barefoot in the dirty streets and sleeping in the gutters had dreams and desires about power. He didn't have military accomplishments. He didn't have victories to his name, like Azula did.

He had nothing.

"Shaming our family, shaming himself, shaming everyone he comes in touch with," Azula said, "If he can't manage a ship, how could he possibly manage a country? We would be sunk before nightfall, with Zuko on the throne."

Zuko said, "That isn't true. I would be a capable leader."

"And what examples do you have, to prove your capability?" Azula shot back. She glanced at the Generals, who were staring at the scene in something akin to fear and understanding, and she said, "Make your case then, Zuko. I won't be missing anything."

"I helped topple Ba Sing Se," Zuko tried, firmly.

"No, you didn't," Azula said, "you fought alongside me in the aftermath."

Zuko couldn't say anything at all.

With that, she said, "I'm going to bed. Don't dare wake me unless you've got a proposition for me." She left calmly. The Generals watched her go, apprehensively, and Zuko took his seat again, awkwardly. He gathered his thoughts, prepared to make his case.

But as Zuko opened his mouth, General Dong-Sun said, diligently, "Let us adjourn this meeting for the time being, then. We will continue this session this afternoon, after lunch."

There was a murmured agreement and Zuko watched, in horror, as they all climbed to their feet and left, chatting amongst themselves. He remained seated, clutching the edge of the table. They all left, except for General Tsumeo, who looked up at Zuko with those droopy, doleful eyes. He said, calmly, "I fear I'll be signing that document."

"You can't," Zuko protested.

"Morally," General Tsumeo said, "I can't. But physically, I can, and will. But I hope you know your sister as a leader as well as we do, Prince Zuko. Only then, really, can you best her in this fruitless game."

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

"Azula will have me killed," General Tsumeo said, "and either force me to sign, or else forge my signature. She's ruthless, and I won't be the first. I have little doubt about who else's blood stains those horrible hands."

General Tsumeo's eyes drifted to Ozai's body, under the red sheets. Zuko hated that General, at that moment. He was infuriated that the General could stand up to Azula while in her face, but everyone knew he was a wilting flower outside of confrontation. The man who could, literally, take on a Komodo rhino with his bare hands without fear, but who laid in bed at night, so terrified of the battles ahead that he was unable to move.

Zuko thought he was a coward. He didn't say a word.

"If you're smart, you won't fight her," General Tsumeo said.

"How will that solve anything?" Zuko demanded, "I want to be Fire Lord and I want to fix this screwed up world. I want to free the prisoners and free the soldiers. I want to make everyone happy, and I can't do that as the brother of the Fire Lord—Lady, whatever. I can't gain anything by being merely a noble."

General Tsumeo shrugged. He replied, "You won't be killed, that's what you'll gain. A life of some sort, even if it wasn't the one you were promised as a baby."

"I hate all of you," Zuko announced, "none of you stand up to her even if it seems the most obvious thing of all, that she killed him."

This seemed to spark a bit of hostility in the General, and Zuko could only clench the table and look away when he was told, "And when's the last time you stood up to her and stopped her, Prince Zuko? We've all tried at one point. We just value our own lives, and the lives of our families."

"You and your families will DIE in Azula's Fire nation," Zuko snapped.

"Not if we're in her good books," was the defensive reply, and then General Tsumeo left the room, shutting the heavy doors behind him. "But we'll try to put you on the throne."

Zuko was alone, alone with the body of his father, and he put his head in his hands and breathed deep, waiting for something to happen. He waited for his mother to come in and comfort him. He waited for Uncle Iroh to come in and tell him what to do. He waited for a voice in the back of his head, telling him what to do. He waited, desperately, for a miracle to strike Azula dead, because he just couldn't do it.

Nothing happened.



Things changed for both of them when the messenger came to them over their late breakfast. Azula had just walked in, barely a moment earlier, and taken her seat exactly as she always did. Calm, together, and regal. She acted as though nothing had happened the night before. Ty Lee chewed her rice with an awkward smile, Mai didn't react at all, and Zuko couldn't eat, he was too disturbed.

Azula looked up at the messenger expectantly, almost smiling, and she prompted, "Yes?"

"General Shang sends a message," he said, and he handed her a scroll of paper. She unwrapped it, unfurled it, and glanced down at it.

Zuko could have retched at the look of delight on her face.

"Ah," she said, "General Shang has signed the bill!"

Then her face soured. Zuko waited for her to say something, but she didn't, so he said, "What is it?"

She put back on that smirk, though he could see how livid she was. He said, "What is it, Azula?"

"We're not going to the meeting this afternoon," she said, "they've barred our presence."

Zuko felt his stomach do flip-flops.

"What does that mean?" he asked, as Azula re-rolled the scroll and thrust it into servant's hands, without even offering it to Zuko first. Zuko reached for it, and the servant handed it to him. He almost tore it, in his eagerness to open it.

"It means they don't want you sitting there and begging for the throne," Azula said, with a smile.

"Sounds like they don't want you doing that either, ha-ha," Ty Lee teased, and the corner of Azula's mouth twisted up. She glanced at Ty Lee sidelong, and then Ty Lee yelped. Zuko, at first, wondered how Azula made Ty Lee yelp without even saying or doing anything, but then Ty Lee glanced at Mai and complained "Hey!"

Apparently, Mai had kicked Ty Lee under the table. Zuko saw why.

"Very funny," Azula said, though she didn't sound like she meant it. She picked at her breakfast, and then narrowed her eyes at Zuko. "Your thoughts?"

"You care about my thoughts?" Zuko replied, warily.

"I wouldn't ask if I didn't."

"Right," Zuko said, and he paused. "To be honest, I'd like to be there, but if they've barred me, there isn't much I can do."

"Well," Azula said, "you _are_ set to be Fire Lord. How could they deny you if you demanded it?"

Zuko saw what she was doing there. He caught her, that time, easily. For the first time, he felt as through he had understood her trap entirely. She was trying to lure him into agreeing that he _would_ be Fire Lord. So, with that in mind, and a sudden confidence, he said, "I wouldn't want to be rude." He glanced at Mai, and smiled. He asked, "So what would you like to do today?"

Azula seemed the slightest bit annoyed. She said, "It wouldn't be rude. You're entirely within your rights, Zuko."

"Too late," Mai said. "He has plans. We're going on a picnic."

Azula did not look pleased. Ty Lee nudged her with one elbow, rather playfully, and she asked, "Azula, what are we going to do?" Her smile was bright and big.

There was a moment without reply, and then Azula said, with a slight smile, the kind that wasn't really genuine, "Let's go for a run."

Ty Lee grinned, and Zuko felt himself slip into an easier sort of ease. Father was dead, but life would go on. When he glanced at Mai, who was looking at him with that blank sort of cheer, he realized Azula wasn't the only one left for him, in the whole world.



Zuko wasn't sure how it happened, but a picnic turned into a walk, and a walk turned into a day on the couch. Not that he minded, but it was funny how intentions turned out completely different than actions.

Mai had a calming effect about her. She made him relax. Not the sort of relaxed where he became lethargic and shut off from the rest of the world, but the sort where he found himself able to open himself up. She asked, calmly, "Do you want to to talk about it?"

"No," he breathed, feeling his throat loosen up already. Azula had fallen out of sight at least a hundred paces back, her presence as far away. It was just him, and Mai. Just Zuko and Mai. Just the two of them.

"Very well," she said, and then she took ahold of his arm, right by the elbow. He felt like a gentleman.

But he was inclined to talk about it anyway.

"I'm glad I don't have to sit in on those meetings, in a way," Zuko said, with a sigh of relief. "Even one was enough for me... I'm so exhausted I could just collapse right here. I don't know if I could sit through another, maybe Azula's right. Maybe she would be the better ruler. She's more... cut-throat."

She said, calmly, "I thought you didn't want to talk about it."

"I don't," Zuko said, and Mai placed a hand against his forearm, empathetic and yet not pitying.

"Then don't," she said. He felt an odd sort of comfort slip over him, with those simple words and that gesture, and his mind found peace. His shoulders relaxed. He let out a calmed sigh.

Her hands slipped from his arm, to take his hand, and she held that for a moment. She smiled and and he smiled back. A thought occurred to him, and he pulled her in a different direction, politely.

She said, "Hey, where are you going?"

"I have an idea," he said.

There were two gardens in the palace. One was a large one, which was the public one with the ponds and the turtleducks. People passed through that one all the time, they were free to wander. Most of the exits from the palace passed through that garden. But the second was private, restricted to the Fire Lord and his most honoured guests, and Zuko had never been there for more than a minute or two in his entire life. Why not try to go now?

"Where?"

"The Fire Lord's Court," he said, and while he waited for her to rebuff him on it, she didn't. She gave a faintly amused smile.

"Sounds like fun," she replied. Zuko couldn't resist stepping closer to her and taking her face between his hands, and pressing a kiss to her lips. It was soft, tentative, and then bolder. They broke off so that walking could be made possible.

As Zuko expected, he was stopped by the guard by the gate. Zuko immediately countered the rejection with a calm and firm, "I'm going to be Fire Lord soon. Why not?"

But with a bit of convincing, mostly on Mai's part, they were in.

Zuko vaguely remembered the place as a beautiful garden -- he remembered holding onto the train of his mother's gown and looking around in wide-eyed wonder, each new sight a bit more intimidated than the next. All the flowers seemed so impossibly large and threatening, exotic blooms from all around the world that grew as large as Zuko's face. Some had spiny ridges, others were delicate, some seemed to be shaped like great mouths with sharp teeth, fit for snapping up bugs.

He remembered, too, how he wanted to be in his mother's arms, but he couldn't, because the new baby had taken his place. He didn't like that, he had cried, and nurse had taken him out of the garden. Zuko had never gone back.

But this garden wasn't what he remembered, the intimidating plants, beautiful in their dominance over the native Fire nation blooms there. In fact, it wasn't even remotely close. Zuko struggled to come to terms with it.

In fact, in the present reality, there were no flowers. There were no plants. There was no gentle pond, no flora, nothing that suggested it was a garden at all. Instead, it was just a stretch of dead grass and a withered tree in the middle, yellowed. The wood was rotting, and the pond had long dried up.

Zuko just stared for a moment, and then Mai laughed, suddenly. It was a sharp laugh, nothing musical or particularly attractive-sounding, but it was so endearing he couldn't help but let a grin tug at his lips. He looked at her, and she looked back at him.

"Did you spend years wanting to get in here?" she asked.

"Sort of," Zuko replied, and then he laughed, himself.

"That's so lame," she said.

"Are you mocking me?" he asked, none-too-seriously. She smirked at him, and he kneed her in the butt, almost knocking her over. He said, "Some girlfriend."

She shoved him back by the forearm, quite playfully, though her face remained calm, looking vaguely amused. He shuffled out of her way, and she said, "Well, kicking me, some _boyfriend_."

"Hey, you started it," he said.

"I'll finish it," she said, and she took him by the waist and pulled him in close.



Zuko awoke to a crowded room, but he had the satisfaction of knowing Azula wasn't there. It was frightening, still, to be prodded awake only to see a circle of powerful, fully-dressed Generals surrounding him. General Rhee was closest to him, and she took her hand off his shoulder as he opened his eyes and sat up, and all of them sank to their knees and bowed for a moment.

Zuko wondered, in disbelief, if Azula had died in her sleep, and now he was the only heir to the throne.

They went on to straighten up and inform him very seriously that, given the circumstances, Zuko was to be Fire Lord in just under a month's time. They were going to consider it for a while, give Azula a chance to bid for her bill and try to win their support, but as it stood, they were giving the crown to him, simply because it was the law.

Zuko couldn't believe it. He was sitting there, in his sleeping clothes, sleepy-eyed and ruffle-haired, and they were explaining law and the monarchy to him. He just couldn't get over it. It lasted thirty minutes and he just sat there, feeling like an idiot, as they went over irrelevant details on conduct and procedure and what his duties would be when he was crowned.

He was just baffled that he just started, simply asked one or two polite, sheepish questions, and then resumed his straight-ahead terrified stare, wondering, _wondering_ why Azula wasn't there.

It scared him that he wanted her presence so desperately because he knew something had to be extremely wrong for her to pass this up so innocently. But when he asked General Rhee whether his sister knew or not, General Rhee simply replied, "We told her and she accepted. She is waiting outside to speak with you when you're ready."

Zuko, not wanting to delay, dismissed everyone and stumbled into his clothes, and by time he was fit to be seen in public, the hall outside his door was deserted except for, well... _Azula_. She was leaning against the wall with her arms folded, and her eyes on the floor. She straightened up as soon as he opened the door.

His defense mechanism shot into action.

"Why did you stop pursuing it?" Zuko demanded.

"I decided I didn't want it anymore," came Azula's reply, so calmly. She said it with such flippancy, such honesty, as if it were nothing. Zuko could only stare at her, wondering why.

He remembered another noble child in court, in his own childhood, placing tacks on the seats they gave to others. It was funny for a laugh, unless you were the poor child getting stuck like a pig.

"Why don't you want it?" he asked.

"Because I realized I have nothing to fear by letting you rule," Azula replied.

"Did you ever fear that?"

"So many questions," Azula replied, skeptically. "Are you that worried?"

"Maybe," Zuko said, with a dark frown. He said, "Just tell me."

"Not for an instant," Azula said, "but I realized that perhaps, Zuko, you'll do a fine job, as long as you keep everything together. Keep the world intact, keep our family's pride and honour."

"Are you lying?" Zuko asked, doubtfully. Azula was looking at him with a smirk, thumbing the buckle of one of her gauntlets as she tightened it around her wrists.

"I don't lie nearly as often as you think I do," Azula replied, "Don't pretend I was born evil and have zero kindness in my entire being. I did you a favour back in Ba Sing Se, didn't I? I did you a favour with Iroh, didn't I?"

"You did," Zuko agreed, "but you pushed for the throne. You changed your mind so suddenly."

He realized, right there, that he was talking as if she really had changed her mind. He was talking as though he had bought the whole story. And, when his eyes met Azula's, he knew that she had seen that coming.

"You'll find that many people are capable of change," Azula said.

"You've never changed," Zuko retorted.

"Nonsense," Azula said. She started walking down the hall, to her own room. "I change all the time. You're just so wrapped up in yourself, and your own personal redemption, that you don't notice anyone else."

"What?" Zuko said, and he almost laughed, even as he followed her. He caught it in his throat, he merely scoffed, and then he told her: "You, of all people, want redemption?"

Azula lifted his chin, parted her lips, and mimed laughing, though no noise came out. She just said, with twisted amusement heavy on her voice, "Redemption? You say it as if I have done things to need to redeem myself."

With that, she slipped into her own room and shut the door behind her, leaving him standing there like a fool. He felt oddly optimistic anyway.

But that optimism didn't last long, unfortunately –– later in the afternoon, he heard two maids talking about the suicide of a General, and with careful eavesdropping, Zuko realized that they were talking about General Shang.

When he spoke to Azula about it, later, she acted like she hadn't heard, and she made a great show of acting distraught at the news, but Zuko didn't buy it for an instant.



Zuko was enjoying his day as much as he could, with so much political strife around him. He was half-asleep, with Mai under one arm. She was reading. Ty Lee was stretched out on the floor, grabbing the balls of her feet without bending her knees, flipping over backwards and draping her feet over her neck with easy, the ripple of her taut stomach muscles peeking between the gaps in her clothes.

And he was enjoying his day, reading over Mai's shoulder and watching Ty Lee do some new contortionist act, occasionally sipping at his drink, until Azula walked in.

"Really, Zuko," Azula said, "you should be happy that you don't have to sit in to these meetings. Getting this law changed is surprisingly _difficult."_

"Serves you right," Zuko said, confidently, "they decided I'd be Fire Lord, and that's it."

"It'll take weeks to prepare for the funeral and coronation, you know," Azula reminded him, "There's plenty of time for things to change."

Zuko realized she was holding a box, and when his eyes drifted down, she looked down at it too, as if surprised that she herself would have to carry something. "This?" Azula said. "This is a gift for you."

He was wary. Azula didn't hesitate to place it firmly in his lap. It was very light, though the way she gave it to him made it seem heavier than stone. Zuko looked down at it, and Mai glanced over at it. She didn't seem concerned, so Zuko dared brush his fingertips over the lid.

Azula said to a servant, dismissively, "I'd like some spiced peanuts." Off the servant scampered.

"What is it?" he asked, suspiciously.

She waved one hand, again dismissively, and she said, "Keepsakes. Original paintings done by the court painter, from when we were kids. Figured I'd give them to you, instead of keeping them in my closet."

Zuko flipped the box open, still expecting some joke, but he was pleasantly surprised. It was a neat stack of thick paper cards that fit the box perfectly. He picked up the first one and twisted his wrist to flip it over, and the cool grey eyes of his mother stared back at him.

Azula's peanuts arrived. She took the plate thanklessly and said nothing, standing before him and waiting for a reaction.

"This is from when you were just born," Zuko said, surprised, "she looks a lot younger than I remember."

"Little did she know, many years later, her son would be preparing himself to sit at the helm of the greatest civilization on earth," Azula said.

Zuko looked up, reluctantly taking his eyes off his mother's beautiful face. He was surprised at her wording, but he quickly replaced it with an easy smile, not wanting to let Azula see it. He said, "Mm."

Azula smiled and shifted her weight to one foot, so her hip cocked. She popped a peanut in her mouth, chewed, swallowed, and then she said, calmly, "She never guessed, either, that if Zuko died right now, I'd inherit the throne. In fact, the only thing that would keep me off that throne forever is if he had his own children, and then grandchildren, and they would have to hope to outlive me or make too many heirs." She paused, Zuko picked up his glass of plum wine, and Azula said, "What do you think of that, Mai? The pressure's on, now."

Zuko snorted his wine right through his nose. At the last second he turned his head away from Mai, over the armrest of the couch, and he sprayed the armrest of the couch purple. He let out a gasp of pain (Azula knew it burned, that bitch) and clutched his face while servants swooped in to mop up the mess. Mai looked disgusted, horrified and embarrassed all at once, Ty Lee collapsed into laughter, and Azula just remained smug as ever.

"I'm not old enough to wed, yet," Mai said, calmly, as if it were nothing, when she recovered from her initial poor reaction. She went back to thumbing through her book. "Then, we'll see."

Zuko spluttered, "What kind of a question is that to ask?!"

"Zuko, you're spraying everything with spit," Ty Lee complained, "Ew, ew, ew. Stop yelling."

"Oh dear," Azula said, seemingly unresponsive to all this negativity around her. She only continued, dearly, "I'm only teasing."

"It sounds like a challenge," Zuko growled. He caught Mai's eye. Mai looked hurt that he would react that way, though he was positive that she wasn't too keen on leaping into bed with the intention of anything but feeling good, and that nothing would change in the near future.

Zuko didn't have much of an interest in marriage; he liked Mai no matter what title she had. And besides... there was lingering mistrust. And distance. And they rarely seemed to have decent conversation. How could he possibly care about marriage?

But Azula was making it a race, a game, she was pushing them. But _why?_ She had no way of winning, that Zuko foresaw, as no male with an interest in his own well-being would dare. Azula was a horrible threat to one's lifestyle. And Zuko didn't like how Azula pushed him.

"Don't be silly," Azula commanded.

Zuko ignored her, pushed his hand past the servant still mopping up the linens, and took up his re-filled glass. He took a swig, rapidly, in case she decided to drop more bombs on him. She didn't. His attention drifted back to the box in his lap, and he flipped through them, determined to ignore her.

They were all like snapshots of the happier times, hastily painted in minutes, barely the size of his spread fingers. There was Mother again and again, as a beautiful shadow behind her children and husband. There was Father, looking stern, but somehow softer than he had in his last years. There was Azula, too, a beautiful child that had taken after her mother's good looks, learning to write calligraphy. At five, she was probably more skilled than Zuko was at present. And, there was Zuko, two-eyed, looking up at his mother as she trailed behind his father. Ursa looked back, over her shoulder, but she kept her back to him.

It was such an awkward picture.

Azula was still watching him, and she said, "Ty Lee, Mai, excuse us for a moment."

"No, no," Zuko said, "They can stay."

Mai's lips twitched, and Azula raised an eyebrow at him, as if he had said something particularly out of line. All at once, he hated how perceptive she was, and cursed his own reluctance to be with her alone.

"It's fine," Mai said, "I should stretch my legs."

"Me too!" Ty Lee added, quickly. She had been stretching for hours. Zuko disliked this scenario, both girls dropping everything to leave. They shut the door behind them, leaving Zuko alone with his box and his wicked sister.

Azula took a seat, munching on her peanuts as if each were a rare and refined delicacy, and she folded one leg over the other and said nothing. Zuko waited for her to say something, and she didn't. He demanded, "Well?"

She pushed the peanuts around on her plate with one sharp nail before selecting one and seizing it between those claws. She popped it in her mouth and she said, "It couldn't last forever, you know. The scenes in the paintings."

He understood, but he hated it. He ignored her comment and he asked, "Do you want to have a family someday? A husband, kids?"

He was staring at the paintings again, one of Azula with her eyes painted with what looked like real gold foil. It was flaking, leaving her eyes chipped and blank. When Azula didn't reply, he looked up and prompted, "Azula?"

She was looking out the window, but she said, "I suppose I'll have to. Can't let the family line die out –– how would I possibly continue it without a child, if you were unable to carry the throne?"

Zuko wasn't happy. He said, "Would you even love a child?" He was skeptical. He was afraid for the child, even when it was only a passing thought, but he was afraid for himself, too.

Azula said, "If they're everything I want them to be."

"Please only have one," Zuko demanded, "if you do it at all."

She raised one eyebrow, and she smirked. "Ah," she breathed. "We couldn't have more Zukos and Irohs, now, could we?"

Zuko could imagine it so clearly. Fifteen, maybe twenty years from now, would he be in Uncle Iroh's place? Would he be bundling his nephew up in a blanket as he fell into septic shock from the vicious burns on his face, would he be giving up the Palace to ensure the boy's survival? Would he be spending his years on a miserable old ship, trying to keep the spirits of a bitter and frustrated and utterly desperate boy alive?

And the fact that the cycle could continue, that terrified him most.

Almost angrily, he turned on her: "How could any child ever live up to your expectations? You'd be a nightmare. That child would go to bed fearing its own mother, rising to only imagine what kind of ridiculous demands you'll put up. If it wasn't a perfect child, what would you do? Disown it, or have another just to show it up and make it feel like trash? That's cruel."

"It worked for Dad," Azula shot back, and Zuko grit his teeth and went back to the pictures, staring long and hard at one of himself. Azula said, "I don't see what you find so attractive about rule by circumstance. The real concept, that's worth over birth. Even the Water tribe understands it, you don't see their tribes passed onto the weakling son of the leader. No, Zuko, leadership is for claiming. If you can't understand that now, you might as well grovel on your knees. You may have the divine right to rule, but you're hardly fit to lead."

"I never thought I'd live to see the day where you, of all people, Azula, would praise something that the rest of the world did," Zuko replied, determined not to listen to the jabs.

"No," Azula said, "they just understand that when a system works, to keep using it. Do you think that hundreds of years ago, the Fire nation revolved around a system that asked 'Is it male? Is it breathing? Is it the first?' No. Back then, one had to war, to prove themselves, to control the land to state their worth. Nobles had a divine right, but they still had to earn it."

"And we _still_ had no female leaders," Zuko said, not because he believed it, but because it would get under her skin. It did, and she put down her plate on the armrest of her chair with a stung look. Peanuts skittered off the edge, dusted in spices that clouded the plate.

She seemed genuinely angry. She said, sharply, "I proved that I'd be the better heir at five years old, Zuko. If Iroh hadn't had twenty years of experience on our father, our father would have surpassed Iroh, too. And uncle Anguoh, and aunt Anzu -- they were worthier of the title, one of them should have succeeded, but they failed and Fire Lord Sozin put Azulon on the throne, merely because he was born first! And HA-- look what happened there! He was removed by his own progeny."

Zuko just said, darkly, "What makes you think you'll get it? Sozin died old in his bed––"

"–Because his other children lacked the ambition to take the place they wanted," Azula said.

Zuko forced himself on, to continue, "So? Azulon was removed to give our father the throne."

"Yes," Azula said, almost impatiently. She continued, "And to think, Zuko. If he hadn't had the drive to succeed, you and I would have been doomed into being the _cousins_ of the Fire Lord. Not because we weren't worth it, but because our father happened to come along late. It is hardly a proper system."

"I understand that," Zuko snapped. He accidently rumpled the edge of a painted card, and it folded under the pressure. He looked down at it and smoothed it immediately, but the new crease would be impossible to fix. He swore at the line folded through his mother's throat and folded it backwards to lessen the damage.

Azula watched him, calming rapidly. She was gaining her composure. She wasn't so impassioned with her desire to succeed. Zuko took his chance and he said, "Who said you'd ever be Fire Lord, anyway? Who says I don't want it more than you do?"

Azula let out a calm snort, and she went back to looking out the window. She said, with a smug tone that dripped with amusement, "You're right. Who is to say?"

But she sounded so sure of herself.



Zuko had known a girl or two, Mai considered, as he pulled her hips down to grind against his. Perhaps it was how he touched her skin, perhaps it was how he knew how to maneuver himself around her. She'd never known a boy quite like this, really, except for the stupid gawky boys her father and mother had invited over, back in the colonies, and she never touched them when she could avoid it. But as for Zuko, Mai couldn't imagine where a scarred and standoffish boy would meet a girl who'd do _this_ with _him_, Earth kingdom or not.

Mai gasped, felt her toes curl, and she dragged her painted nails over his shoulders, trying to find support. He moaned against her mouth. His skin was hot as fire, his legs tangled with hers like snakes until she wrapped them around his waist. He was Zuko in and out -- quick to jump in, shy at times, but determined all the way through.

And, of course, some things were naturally awkward – the way he disrobed her, the way he brushed her bangs from her face so he could kiss her forehead, her eyelids, her cheekbones. Mai knew he was a faster learner, though, despite anything said about him. One grope too rough and he knew, oh, he _knew_ better next time. Mai made sure of it.

Mai, in all, felt more than she ever had in her entire life, and for the first time, she felt like she didn't have to serve to please. Zuko loved, and wanted her, in more than just this way, betwixt the sheets and in the humid western afternoons.

It was all spark showers, raw kisses up and down her body, and mumbles and moans stifled against skin.

But for the moment, her only complaint was that he didn't have the stamina to make the entertainment last too long. That could be corrected, she noted, in time. For Zuko, she could wait patiently.

They were still tangled together afterwards, though, with Mai wrapped up in his arms and her bare back against his bare chest. One of his hands was over her breast, fingers drifting across her nipple almost experimentally. She was tolerant of his breath on her neck, as he slept. They fit together like puzzle pieces –– incorrect at times, but correct eventually.

Then, Zuko had to go and spoil the magic by mumbling aloud, "Mmph, 'zula."

Mai's eyes widened. Her mouth fell open a bit, her heart started to thump in her chest in a nasty tattoo. She twisted her head to try and see him, she was so wrapped up in blankets and his arms that she couldn't even turn to see him properly. She said, stunned, "Excuse me?"

He was fast asleep.



Zuko woke up shortly after, to feel Mai untangle herself from his arms and slide out of bed.

Mai was dressing. She stood by the edge of his bed, quite naked, sorting out her underwear and flipping it the right way around. Zuko came to his senses as she pulled them on, and he said, confused, "Where are you going?"

She didn't say anything, apparently too preoccupied with her clothing. There was a lot of it. Zuko glanced at the window and noted that the sun was down. How long had he been sleeping? An hour, at best?

"I'm going to bathe," Mai said.

It seemed too bold for Zuko to invite himself. So he just pulled himself to sit up, dropping his legs off the side of the bed, and he wrapped the sheets around him. Mai went on dressing, quietly, and Zuko said, "Oh." After a moment, he added, with a smile, "Are you coming back here, after?"

"Maybe," Mai said.

Zuko didn't like how drab she sounded. It was a "no" sort of maybe, to be polite. So he asked, "Did I do something wrong?"

"I enjoyed myself," Mai replied, but she didn't sound terribly enthusiastic about it, not like Jin had, even though that had been the most awkward encounter of his life.

"I did too," Zuko said, quite pleased, though her tone was bugging him. He dwelled on it, as she dressed.

There was a moment of silence, and as she was just closing the button on the front of her shanqun, and Zuko just sat there, pleased and confused and concerned, with his hands on his knees and his shoulders relaxed. Mai didn't look at him. In fact, she acted like he wasn't even there.

So his mind wandered. He said, completely out of the blue, "Do _you_ think Azula killed Father?"

Mai didn't reply for a minute. She stopped in front of his mirror to do her hair up, and he just watched her. The way her jaw set made him regret he had ever asked.

"Elision," Mai said, "that's what it is."

"What?" Zuko said.

"She killed him behind closed doors. It makes it worse for everyone, because no one but her knows what happened in there to cause it. The deed is hidden. We can't blame her, even if we know she did it. It's going to be omitted from history as if Fire Lord Ozai died in his sleep."

"But that's wrong!" Zuko protested, "I KNOW she killed Father! I worked so hard to get back into his good books, I went through so much! And she killed him!"

Mai looked at him with something like disgust, as if he were holding something foul under her nose. She said, "Don't you care that he's dead? All you seem to care about is that Azula did something wrong, and that you're not going to be able to reap the benefits anymore."

"I do care about Dad, I do," Zuko replied, defensively, "But Azula didn't take any blame at all, no one seems to care that she did it, even if everyone seems to know it. I know it, you know it, the council knows it, Ty Lee knows it, and yet no one but me wants to say anything about it aloud!"

Mai didn't say anything, she just focused on her hair. Zuko rounded on her.

"Are you loyal to me, or Azula?" asked Zuko, determined. Mai stared him down, her face blank, her eyes cool, as always. She didn't reply, and Zuko said, "I order you to answer me."

"Where did this come from? Azula is my friend," Mai said, coolly, "She's been my friend since our school days. Why wouldn't I be?"

"What about _me_?" Zuko demanded, stung.

"I always liked you, and still do," Mai said. She wasn't blushing, but her voice lifted a bit. "I'm loyal to you, too."

That was it? That was all? No explained reassurance? Zuko waited for her to say more but she didn't. He sat there, the blankets falling around his waist, and stared at her, pale and dark-haired against all the red linens. She did not look impressed at all.

"But how do I know you're not feeding Azula every word I say, so she can use it against me?" he urged. If it was possible at all, Mai looked even less impressed.

She lifted an eyebrow at him and raised her chin. She said, calmly, "You don't. You're just paranoid, and maybe just a bit obsessed with Azula. Ever since the Avatar died, you're been turning your obsession onto her, and since your father died, it's been considerably worse."

Zuko admonished her with an offended, "He _died?_ Mai, Azula _murdered_ him."

"Irrelevant," Mai said, "that's not the point. You're obsessed with everything she's doing."

Zuko scowled and replied, "I'm not obsessed! I'm just worried she'll go after ME to get the throne. Father liked her better, she has all the politicians in her hands, and everyone likes her better. I don't even know why Father made me Crown Prince again, unless it's just to give Azula something to play with! And I still haven't mastered firebending, and Uncle Iroh could be anywhere by now, or he could be dead, and it's all my fault—"

Mai gave a loud huff, and she said, snottily, "not this again."

Zuko stared at her, half in shock and half angry, and he said, "What?"

"Throne this, Azula that."

Mai wasn't even looking at him. She was thumbing through her hair, scanning her reflection for a single misplaced hair. He waited for her to look up, and he was truly appalled that he was hearing anything like this from her, from Mai, from his _girlfriend_. Someone who could possibly be his _wife_ someday, as no other girls seemed to be coming along. He just _slept_ with her and she had _liked_ it.

"Do—do you even care?" Zuko asked.

Mai looked up and him, then, and she said, "I really do, Zuko. But I want to be spending time with you, the goofy guy who'll laugh with me, not a paranoid, obsessive freak with a fixation on his sister."

Zuko sighed, exaggerated and frustrated, and he counted out the points on his fingers. "One, I'm not paranoid. Two, I'm not obsessive. Three, I'm not a _freak_." He paused, and checked that she was still looking at him. She wasn't. He let out a growl and he snapped, "I'm not fixated on anything but _surviving!_"

It took a bit, but he finally got a reaction out of Mai. She lowered her hands from her hair, and Zuko felt the magnitude of what he had snarled at her when she looked down at him, angrily.

"Come talk to me when that goofball I liked by the fountain comes back again, I miss him _terribly_," Mai said, and she stormed off.

Zuko didn't chase her. He just folded his arms, stretched out on the couch, and pretended nothing happened, while the servants just outside the room glanced between each other awkwardly.



"Zuko's driving me up the wall," Mai said, calmly, as she climbed into bed. Ty Lee peeked her eyes up over the edge of the covers. Her side of the bed, compared to Mai's meticulously folded blankets and sheets, was pell-mell, despite the obvious attempts of servants to tame it. Ty Lee just liked her sheets rumpled when she went to bed.

Ty Lee said, "What'd he do?"

"He's worried about Azula."

"I don't blame him!" Ty Lee nodded, very seriously, but her voice was as carefree as usual. She rolled onto her stomach and kicked her feet in the air, so that the blankets tented up. Folding her arms under her pillow, she said, "I'm actually kind of worried too, I think that's why my skin feels all icky tonight."

"Mm," Mai murmured, uncommitted. She said, "I am too."

"Really? You never get worried," Ty Lee said, turning her round brown eyes on Mai in surprise. "But I guess this is pretty serious, huh?"

"The Fire Lord's dead, his son has returned from exile and is set to be crowned, so his daughter, only recently stripped of the title of Crown Princess, won't get the throne," Mai listed, drearily, as if she were unloading a heavy cart. She continued, in her own monotonous voice, "I imagine the whole Nation's going to be in turmoil now…"

"Did Azula tell you ahead of time?" Ty Lee asked, quietly.

Mai shook her head.

"Me either," Ty Lee said, "Gee… that's the first time she didn't tell us what she was doing. Even when her mom—"

"Ssh, Ty Lee," Mai shushed her, quickly, actually reaching over to put her hand over her friend's mouth. She warned, "We shouldn't talk about it, someone could overhear."

"Oh," Ty Lee said, brightly. She had clued in rather fast. She said, "Right, right."

There was a quiet moment – that was a rare thing with Ty Lee around. Mai settled down under the covers, her long black hair falling loose around her shoulders and back. Ty Lee's was much longer, of course, but even when she slept, she kept it tucked into a neat plait.

With the covers up to her neck and her hands folded across her stomach, Mai lay on her back and stared up at the ceiling, thinking quietly. Ty Lee rolled over again, but it didn't bother Mai, as their shared bed was so wide they probably couldn't have touched both each other and the edge of the bed, had they stretched out finger-tips to finger-tips.

"Heeey, why are you back in here with me, anyway, when you're dating Zuko?" Ty Lee asked, propping herself up on one elbow. Mai sighed and brought her hands up over her eyes for a moment. She didn't really want to get onto this subject, though she figured Ty Lee would ask eventually, anyway, especially if Mai was going to crash in her room.

"Commoners date. Nobles court."

Ty Lee said, "Sorry, well, why? You mad at him or something?"

"He keeps bothering me about being on Azula's side," Mai grumbled. "He just can't grasp that we're friends and nothing's going to change that. And I'm not going home, it's empty and boring with no one around."

"Just _bothered_ you?" Ty Lee said, with a smile.

"Well," Mai said, and she paused. It was such a delicate subject. Her cheeks flushed just slightly, with the barest tinge of pink. She said, darkly, "We were alone together in his room, and things happened, and then… he said her name. Right after, well... that." She trailed and started again. "And afterwards he just wanted to talk about Azula. He accused me of feeding her information about him."

Ty Lee laughed, and then she said, with that big goofy grin, "What a dumby!"

Mai didn't even want to reply to a dumb statement like that. So she said, "He can sleep alone tonight. When he stops bothering me about Azula, I'll go back to him."

"Yeah," Ty Lee said, and enthusiastically, she added, "So it's a sleepover!"

The door swung open, and Ty Lee sat up and craned her neck to see who was there. No one was in sight, and Ty Lee started to call over, but Azula appeared around the edge of the door with a smile, and she said, "And I'm not invited?"

"Azula!" Ty Lee laughed, "I was just about to call you!"

Mai sat up, and wondered how long Azula had been at the door. Presently, Azula was striding towards them, barefoot, in her sleeping robe and loose pants. She stepped up onto the foot of the bed and walked across the top of it, stepping over Ty Lee's feet and crashing down to sit between the girls, propped up against the headboard.

"I thought I heard my name," Azula said, wryly. "You know what they say about saying demons' names will make them appear to you. Thought I'd drop in and, lo and behold, a sleepover I wasn't invited to."

Mai thought it almost funny that Azula would joke so lightheartedly about being so wicked. She didn't care, though, she was used to it. So she just said, patiently, "We were just discussing your brother. Care to join us?"

"Would I _ever," _Azula said, joining them under the covers and giving an odd little laugh to herself. "I'm surprised you're not with him right now, Mai. Tired of the angst already?"

The corner of Mai's mouth twisted up, but whether it was sardonic in nature or actual amusement, Mai wouldn't say. Ty Lee giggled. Azula waited for an answer, and Mai said, "He talks about you constantly. It's like he has a fixation."

"I see how it is," Azula said, inspecting her nails and smiling. She seemed to at ease, so relaxed. She said, charmingly, "I suppose with mother and father dead, and Iroh in exile, it's only suiting that he cares about the only family he has."

Ty Lee erupted in giggles, and she said, "Oh, Azula, you'll never stop laughing, but when Mai and Zuko were—"

"Don't you dare," Mai said. But Ty Lee ploughed on, laughing so hard that her shoulders shook, and she had to clutch her stomach, and her eyes started tearing up.

"Bah-hah-hah-hah! Ha! HAHA! You'll never stop laughing! Mai and Zuko were having some fun and, ha ha ha, HA, they finished, ha ha, and the first thing he did was roll over and—"

"Ty Lee!" Mai protested.

"He asked her if you were using her as a spy," Ty Lee finished, loudly, and Azula glanced between Ty Lee and Mai with a raised eyebrow, looking a bit surprised.

Azula said, with a tone that suggested she, too, would like to laugh like crazy, "_Really,_ Mai? That's ridiculous."

"No kidding," Mai said, darkly. She shot Ty Lee a glower, that only doubled when Ty Lee replied.

"Maybe you need some new moves."

Mai grabbed a pillow and hurled it at Ty Lee. Funny that a pillow could take someone with such fine-tuned reactions and combat skills out, but it happened: it bounced off her head. Ty Lee let out a protest and she grabbed another pillow and used it as a makeshift club to whap Mai right back.

"Stop that!" Mai protested, picking up another one and rising on her knees in bed, reaching across Azula to pelt Ty Lee again. Ty Lee only laughed, and Azula did, too, though she picked up a pillow and joined in.

It was all forgotten, then. Zuko, fixations, Mai's sex life, and the murder of reigning monarchs and fathers, everything. All of it was, for the moment, replaced by a high-action and high-energy pillow fight.



"Ever done cartwheels?" Ty Lee asked, smiling and tilting her head. Zuko looked at her, incredulous. Mai was still grouchy, Azula was off playing with politics, all while Ty Lee bounced around him and bothered him.

"As a game...?"

"No, just because," she said.

"No," Zuko replied. Ty Lee clapped her hands together. Zuko said, quickly, "No way."

"What do you want to do, then?" she asked. Zuko stood up.

"I wanted to talk to you about Azula," he said, and he continued, when she folded her arms, "And then we can do somersaults or handstands or something."

"Okay," Ty Lee agreed, enthused once again. "How about both at once?"

"Er," Zuko said. He was ready to balk, but he could see Ty Lee wasn't going to do much otherwise.

"Okay!" Ty Lee clapped her hands. Zuko awkwardly knelt in the grass next to her, hyper-aware of the fact that he was going to do something silly. He waited, and then she dropped down to the ground and put her head in the grass. She braced her arms, and said, "Do this!"

Zuko did it, and found it hard to watch Ty Lee at the same time. She straightened up, and grabbed him by the knees. She said, "Balance your knees on your elbows. I know it sounds silly, but do it."

It took Zuko a few tries, and he felt absolutely ridiculous, but he pulled it off.

"Now try to get up!"

He failed, and fell. He let out a vehement growl and he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Don't use your legs to get yourself up," Ty Lee said, with a silly grin, "you'll just flop around in the air like a fish! Use your stomach muscles."

Zuko stared at her; he was quite happy he had that covered, and tried it. His legs wavered anyway, but once he could get his butt up in the air, he couldn't figure out how to straighten his legs without overbalancing. He tried, and failed, and he intentionally aimed to fall forwards, so he didn't land on his own neck.

Ty Lee squatted down next to him and she said, "That's pretty good, for a beginner, you know. It takes a lot of practice."

"Er, thanks," Zuko said, and she patted him on the knee.

"Try again!" she urged.

"Alright, but before I do," Zuko said, "About Azula—"

Ty Lee heaved a melodramatic sigh, and she flopped over in the grass. Zuko stopped talking. He waited for her to complain, to rebuff him or something, but when she didn't, he testily continued, "I just wanted to ask you if you knew why she killed Dad."

"Gee, Mai was right," Ty Lee said, "you really only care about Azula, don't you? Everything is about Azula! Did you really interrupt cuddle time to talk about Azula?"

Zuko flushed, and he said, alarmed, "Does she tell you about what we do alone?!"

"Well, yeah, it's not like I have ears in the walls, silly," Ty Lee replied. She stretched, arching her back as she folded her hands together and reached them towards the sky. "But that was mean of you."

Zuko felt stupid, suddenly, now that she pointed it out. It was true, wasn't it? No wonder Mai had been so fussy. In retrospect, he really did look like a complete jerk. And he had his excuses, he really did, but that didn't mean he had to be nasty.

Ty Lee noticed this dumbstruck look, and she said, "Look, maybe you just need to relax a bit. You really need to just breathe, forget about what Azula's doing, and focus on yourself. I mean, ha-ha, you're the Fire Lord now! Don't you have bigger things to work on?"

As she spoke, she rearranged her legs into a lotus position, and mimed bringing her arms up slowly, in some teasing sort of fashion. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Zuko stared at her, and replied, "So I'm just supposed to sit back and relax when she might be planning to kill me? She's up to something, Ty Lee, and you know what it is!"

"Actually, I don't," Ty Lee replied, almost indignantly, "Look, we may be good friends, but she doesn't really sit us down in the evenings to discuss who she's going to hurt next, okay? It's not like we sit around braiding each others' hair and giggling over DOOM and DESTRUCTION."

She made arm gestures as she said it, and Zuko found it very hard to take her seriously, but she had a great point. Azula probably didn't confide in them for everything, though there was still that lingering doubt in his head about it all. Ty Lee probably didn't know more than he did.

"But she does plan it," Zuko argued, "doesn't that bother you? That your friend plots to kill innocent people?"

"You know, maybe it's justified," Ty Lee said, defensively. "Your dad is – was – a lousy guy. Just think of it as revenge for scarring and banishing you, or something."

"That's horrible," Zuko shot back, sitting bolt up, "Apologize for that."

Ty Lee hesitated, and she raised an eyebrow. She said, "I'm not gonna fight with you, Zuko, there's no point."

Zuko stared her down, angrily, and she did a backwards somersault to put some distance between them, and then she flipped to her feet some yards away. She said, seriously, "I'm sorry." She bowed, and then straightened and said, "You don't have to be so mean about it."

With minimal hesitation, Zuko said, "Sorry. I guess I'm just on edge around here." He paused, and Ty Lee didn't say anything, she just slid to her knees and sat down. Zuko said, finally, "I just don't understand how you and Mai can just sit around like rocks about this. Azula killed our father and you're not even alarmed that she did. You act like she stepped on an ant, or something."

"I hate ants," Ty Lee replied, "I didn't hate your dad."

"Fine," Zuko said, frustrated, "you know what I mean, though."

"Well," Ty Lee said, "I think about it a lot, and then I decide that there's nothing I could have done, if I knew. If I told you ahead of time, wouldn't you have gone to protect him? Azula might have killed you. If I told anyone else, who would have believed me? I may be Azula's friend, but I'd be accusing her of murdering her own father."

"I know, I know," Zuko said, "Azula told me that herself. But you'd think that people would be SO eager to find a culprit that they'd buy absolutely anything."

Ty Lee shrugged, and shook her head.



Azula's hands drifted across her ribcage, carefully, and she looked up at her advisor with a strange look. It was utterly impossible to describe well – perhaps it was anger, with the way she let out a sharp breath and then gritted her teeth. Perhaps it was concern, with how her eyebrows sloped. Perhaps it was shock, with how the corners of her mouth twisted and her lips parted.

But her eyes, those horrible yellow eyes, they spoke of bloodlust.

"What did you say?" she said, standing up and drawing herself up to her full height. The beat of her heart was like a drum, constant and impending. The advisor just held eye contact and sank to one knee.

"The unit holding the Kyoshi warriors has been invaded and destroyed, and the prisoners escaped alive."

She demanded, "Tell me everything, and leave no tiny detail out, no matter how insignificant you think it."

The advisor broke eye contact and launched into the explanation, but then he finished with the last thing Azula should have been told: "No one knows where she is."

Azula stepped down from her throne, furiously, each step loud against the floor. Azula never stormed so violently, she was so often calm and impending rather than obvious. She headed for the door, walking so fast she tread on the advisor's hands as she walked by.

She never looked back; she slammed the door behind her, and walked right into Zuko's chest. She didn't quite touch him, but she was close enough that she had to step back to change her course.

"What's going on?" he asked, though she could tell he didn't really want to ask at all. She looked up with him, and gathered her thoughts. She brought her hand up to brush a lock of hair from her face, as it had fallen out of her topknot, in her rage.

She said, with renewed calmness, "I'm going hunting, brother. The North Pole can wait. Do you want to come?"

"What?" Zuko said, and then he corrected himself with a "Pardon? Why?"

"My friend flew away from her cage," Azula said, "and you're coming with me, to find her."

"Why would I do that?" Zuko growled.

"Because I asked you nicely," Azula replied. She paused, to smile and touch her fingertips to his cheek. She said, "Mai's going. How could you possibly guarantee her safety if you didn't go? We'll be doing dangerous things."

There was no point in arguing that Mai was an accomplished fighter herself, that she was perhaps even more skilled than Zuko, because Azula knew that Zuko would doubt. Zuko would believe that Azula was a threat to Mai.

Zuko didn't even hesitate when he nodded, though he brushed Azula's fingers away angrily. Azula knew that Zuko wouldn't risk the only real friend he had, and it's not like he had something to do over the weeks anyway.



Their ship left early in the morning. Azula had been up for hours and hours, or perhaps she had never slept at all. Zuko didn't know. Either way, she kept to herself, but her image stalked him like a wolf. If Zuko was alone, or with someone else, no matter what, he could count on her shadowing him like an afterthought, though she was never really there.

He thought about her far too much, especially as the Fire nations islands were fading into the distance, too far for the human eye to take in. It was foggy, it was going to be a humid day. The steam of the stack overhead blotted out the clouds.

He just watched his home sail away. Zuko hadn't figured on leaving home so soon.

"I hate this," Ty Lee said, suddenly, "I really do."

She was perched on the edge of the rail around the rear of the ship. There wasn't really a fear of falling, because the top of the rail was thick enough to safely sit on, but Zuko wanted to reach out and hold onto her anyway.

"The going-away part or the Azula part?" Zuko asked. He leant against the rail, within arm's reach of her.

"Mm," Ty Lee smiled, not committed to any answer. "There are a lot of reasons, but I was happy in the circus. And I was happy back home. But I guess, as long as I go where there's sunshine, everything will be alright!"

"I wish I could be so carefree," Zuko said, almost bitterly. "What happens next?"

"What d'you mean?"

"After we find Azula's friend, the escapee," Zuko asked. "What happens after that? We just go home and she lets me have the throne without a fight? I don't know why she cares about this escapee so much, it's just one girl. Between a girl and an entire nation, I know which I'd pick."

"Is she as pretty as me?" Ty Lee teased.

Zuko didn't feel the joke. He said, dryly, "I'd pick the nation. And besides, Azula's not in love with the girl. She wants her dead, if you were paying attention. She's got to hate that girl a lot."

Ty Lee shrugged, not hurt that Zuko had blown her off. She said, "Well, the girl is a bit more important than that, you know? It's not that the girl did anything wrong, we just beat them up a bit. It's the whole brain thing. We learnt a lot from that girl, we did. But maybe that girl learnt a bit too much about Azula, at the same time."

"Why would Azula tell a stranger about herself?" Zuko said.

"I don't know," Ty Lee huffed, "I can't read MINDS, you know. I just _notice_ stuff, okay? It's not like Azula was friendly, but she has some pretty bad stories to tell."

Zuko didn't know how to reply to that. He just kept his arms folded against his chest, leaning against the metal rail with a frown on his face. He just didn't know how to reply, didn't know how to accept such a horrible thing in his head. Azula, telling strangers about her secret life? Stories? Personal stories? He just asked, "Are they true stories?"

Ty Lee didn't reply. She just flipped backwards off of the rail, straightened up on her feet, and she shrugged.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Zuko asked.

"I dunno," Ty Lee said.

And right there, the conversation stopped, because Azula joined them on the deck.



Zuko had forgotten how much he hated ships.

After two years, he had more or less adjusted to the nonsense that was living on a ship, but his ship had been one of little luxury. It was the ship of a former captain, one that was of little status, and thus, he had a little ship. It wasn't Iroh's ship – Uncle Iroh had said that taking his ship would be senseless, as it was a huge, coal-devouring monster, and it was fairly unreasonable to coast around the entire world in such a thing. Expensive, a waste of resources they didn't really have. So Uncle Iroh had taken the ex-captain's old ship, fitted it with his crew, and hoped for the best.

Zuko hadn't made many decisions back then. Those were the first days, the first two weeks of his banishment. When he wasn't curled up in his cabin under a mound of blankets, trying to sweat off the fever and the infections, he was a wreck. Zuko barely remembered being _carried_ onto the boat, barely remembered Azula on the pier, a smiling ten-year-old who looked as if she had just been granted all her wishes and dreams. It was true. She really had been.

He had shut himself in his new room, between four cold steel walls, with only a few cheap tapestries for comfort. They were emblazoned with the Fire nation symbol, the one flame. It was his goal, his determination, but it was also just a scrap of cloth on the wall, musty and old with age.

He had slept for twenty hours a day, then, he had turned visitors away, and he had ignored it when the end of his mattress sank deep with weight, finding someone sitting by his feet. Iroh would sit there for hours, and Zuko never once looked up, he just listened to the man cry those old-man tears.

Zuko was still in so much pain at that point, so much that his entire body felt like it was burned. A servant, one of the few that had come with them from the Fire nation, fed him. She had propped him up on a mountain of pillows and fed him bite by bite. Because of the heavy burns on his face, infected and bound to leave the nastiest of marks, he could barely see her, and because of that, he could only blearily look at her out his good eye, and pretend she was his mother. _Here comes the ship into the port, open wide and eat up, Zuko, so you'll be strong and well. Good boy! Oh, you poor thing._

(The servant died of diphtheria, some months later, when Zuko was well enough to feed and bathe himself. She contracted the disease when they stopped in a port of a colony town, and by time she realized she had it, it was too late for healing. Luckily, she didn't pass it to anyone else on the ship, as there were enough skilled firebenders to ward it off, but Zuko didn't care much either way; he pitied himself more than he could possibly pity anyone else.)

And as the weeks went by, things got mildly better. Their ship was chugging steadily out of Fire nation waters, and Zuko was well enough to sit up without feeling atrocious. He was propped up on a couch on the deck, where he could sit and watch the last of the Fire nation drift by. His head was still wrapped in those bandages, and the left side of his face was both painful and numb at the same time, with all the nerves shot.

He watched his homeland – even if they were islands he had never visited – drift by like clumps of red seaweed. He wanted to reach out to them, to grab them and hold on for dear life, but he was miles away and he had nowhere to go.

Zuko still didn't talk to anyone. He just talked to himself, with those delusions he'd come to accept: Father is testing me. Father didn't mean it. Father will change his mind and call us home. We misunderstood; he never banished us, he's sent us on an errand. We'll be back home in two weeks.

Of course, this lie of two weeks became three, then a month, then two, then six, and then Zuko wondered if he'd ever see his homeland. He kept that desperate hope alive.

When he was well enough to sit up and concentrate, he demanded books. He demanded records. They were brought to him, sometimes in minutes, sometimes in weeks, and he would pore over them until his eye watered, by whatever scrap of light he could find or make in his room. The books and records told of the Avatar, everything the Avatar could do, its purpose and its ways. Zuko read about Roku, and Kyoshi, and Kuruk. He read about Yangchen, but there was no information on any Avatar before that, as there were few surviving records. He knew the names of the rest of them, but his supply of information ended there, so he went on to study airbenders as a people.

That, too, was roughly around when he demanded Iroh take him as his apprentice. News reports from home – pointless things sent to more as a means of tracking rather than real concern – said that Azula had learnt to bend lightning, at the tender age of eleven. Azula bothered to sent a letter herself, full of discreet little snipes at Zuko, claiming superiority. She mentioned, in lavish detail, how _exquisite_ her coronation as Crown Princess and heir apparent was. Zuko could practically taste the wine in his mouth, her words were so vivid. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

Iroh told him to pay no mind, and Zuko wrote back anyway, a six-page letter so full of anger and spite and bitterness that very little of it was legible. Zuko waited for a response for months, knowing Azula would insist on having the last word, but no letter ever came. Zuko hoped that she had died of some horrible wound, explaining her delay at replying, but news didn't come of that, either. Instead, Zuko received a copy of a poster, telling of Azula's first victory in battle, at the age of eleven. Apparently, she had revised some General's plans, and her version won them the city without losing a single Fire nation soldier's life. There was a comment, hand-written in a margin, and it said, "What are you doing to please Father?"

Zuko burned it, and shut himself up for days, but that was not a new practice.

He learned to live that way.



"That friend of yours," Zuko said, "the one in the prison. The one we're going to hunt down."

Azula merely turned her eyes on him, and she possessed a look that suggested she was sorely annoyed at him for assuming she needed a reminder. Those golden eyes were hawklike, but she hid no shame. She said, right out, "What about her?"

"Surely you have a reason for this bigger than finding a single girl?" Zuko replied.

"Not really," Azula said, "I want her found and I want to kill her myself. No one disrespects me. No one escapes the Fire nation and survives, for that matter."

"Ah," Zuko said.

"Tell me everything you know about the Avatar's company," Azula commanded, and Zuko blinked, slowly. Azula expanded on the comment. She said, "The Water tribe girl and boy, and I believe there was an Earthbender, too. Tell me everything."

"Uh," Zuko trailed, rather taken off-guard by this question. How much detail to put it in? How to explain how petty he'd been? So he said, "I don't even remember their names, but I know that the Water tribe kids came from the South. They went up through Kyoshi, and um, they were in a Fire nation shipyard for a while, freeing captives. Then they continued north, visited an island in the Fire nation, Avatar Roku's island. Got to the Northern Water tribe, Zhao killed the Moon spirit but it came back alive… I don't know, lots of stuff."

Azula scoffed, as if these vague details weren't enough.

"I don't care about where they've been, I want to know about them as people. Where they've been doesn't matter. This Sokka boy," she said, "managed to break out my prison. Explain to me, if you will, how a non-bender manages to do that. What type of person is he?"

Zuko said, "He can't bend, but he's obviously intelligent."

Azula said, "I gathered that. Who is he?"

"I've never fought him," Zuko said, "I've never had a conversation with him. What, exactly, do you expect me to know about him?"

"Surely you know how to _observe_," Azula said. The suggestion there was apparent, Zuko knew he was being an idiot. Azula said, "I've heard the girl's side of it, I want to hear it from another source."

"What did she tell you?"

"Not enough, clearly," Azula said. "But when I catch her, I'll catch him too, and they'll both be sorry they ever got in my way."

"Well," Zuko said, "I hope we find them fast." He straightened up, stopped leaning against the rail, and yawned as he stretched his arms above his head.

Azula remained rigid and attentive, standing behind him and to the side, like a guard at his post. She held her chin high. She said, seriously, "You're free to go home whenever you wish, Zuko, but the girls and I are going to stay here until the mission is completed."

Zuko heard this as, essentially, he was doomed to wander until Azula got what she wanted.



They spent weeks harassing the Kingdom. Zuko recalled the days where they torched as many as two or three villages in a single day, where Azula would be energetic and even cheerful, and on the days spent traveling between village and village, Azula was a miserable person to deal with. He woke up one morning, still in the saddle, to hear Azula barking orders at some poor soldier, and when Zuko opened his eyes, it was just in time to see her smack him across the face with a handful of fire.

Zuko had been so eager to jump down at help the poor man, but as soon as Azula hit, he knew it was a lost cause. He figured, bitterly, he had no advantage, no skill, here. He couldn't have stopped Azula if he tried.

Ty Lee and Mai just turned their heads and pretended it never happened, every single time.

There was only one village they left standing, and that was because Zuko stood up to her. _Once_. She razed four villages the next day, as if to make up for it, and she told him so. Zuko didn't do it again, as it was him versus the armies.

And Azula certainly knew how to command an army: she could stand forcefully, clasp her hands behind her back, and lift her chin high. She could order grown men around without even raising her voice. She was absolutely vicious about it, ruthless, without mercy. Very quickly, Zuko realized that she was prepared to kill her own men if they didn't do as she asked. Azula demanded perfection, and she damn well got it.

It terrified him that every time a voice in the back of his head told him "you should do something about this", he could do nothing. He could only watch, he could only stand there as Azula wreaked havoc, and the shame stewed in him bitterly.

He realized, after the fifth village, that Uncle Iroh would loathe him as he was now.



"Why did we come here?" Zuko demanded, "So you can terrorize people? So you can cause them needless pain and suffering? What is _wrong_ with you? Normal people don't… they don't _get off_ on hurting people!"

Azula just stared at him, not with shock or surprise, but with a calmness Zuko found disturbing. She seemed to shrug it off. She merely blinked, once, long and slow, and then she said, softly, "What do you know about war, Zuko?"

"I know it hurts people when it doesn't have to," Zuko said, firmly. "I know that you're just being a catalyst to all these disasters that could be avoided. What's wrong with you, Azula?"

"If you have a problem with how I do things, Zuko," Azula said, almost warning, "then do what all those cowards don't. Kill me off. Get me out of your way. If you're strong and desperate enough to do something better than what I'm doing, surpass me."

He was angry enough to snap, "Well, maybe I _should_."

"That's right," Azula said, "maybe you should. But you know what? You can't, Zuko. No one can touch me, and that's exactly why I'm still standing here. No one has had a dream better than mine, and thus, they could never overcome the mountains I've created in my wake."

Zuko wasn't sure if he wanted to throttle her or just walk away. She was so painfully condescending, her tone absolutely dripping with power and malice, and he understood what all those peasants thought when looking at her in the eyes. He understood what they thought when she spoke.

They thought, "this is the new world, and this is what the world is like under the Fire Lord's daughter."

Zuko wondered if he'd be liked, in comparison, because he wasn't Azula. But no, she proved that wrong, presented him as ruthless, ordered him to do things he didn't want to do. He didn't do them, when he could help it, but what could he do about it? Mai stood by his sister's side, calm and obedient, when he just wanted to rip her away and shake her, demand she wake up and understand how dangerous Azula was.

He didn't think Azula had friends. These weren't friends. Real friends didn't do that.

"No," he said to Azula, "that's not why you're still standing."

"Then why am I?" Azula asked, her eyebrows lifting just slightly. She said, viciously, taking a few steps closer to Zuko, "Luck? Chance?"

"No." Zuko shoved her back, right on the shoulders, and Azula stepped out of the gesture, taking all his effort away. He said, "You're still standing because you hide behind your 'friends', you hide behind people who'll act as shields."

"Strong words from someone who threw away his beloved Uncle, from someone who has licked boots with the best of them."

"Mai, Ty Lee, the Generals, the Dai Li, mom – every one of them, you abused each and every one of them as shields," Zuko said.

"Mother?" Azula said, skeptically. She folded her arms here, and she even smirked. She said, "You're so desperate to blame someone other than yourself that you're moving it onto me. As for my friends, we've been together most of our lives. We've got each other covered; I'd kill for them just as soon as they'd kill for me. But there's no need for me to defend myself. I'll say it once more, the biggest crime of all is yours: Uncle Iroh."

Zuko couldn't reply. He could just struggle with bits of accusations. Of course Azula had something to do with mother, hadn't she been the last to see her before she disappeared? And didn't Azula pull Ty Lee from her happy home in the circus for a stupid vendetta against him? Didn't she lie up and down, constantly?

"Uncle Iroh made his choice," Zuko said, defensively.

"Really," Azula said, "if I recall correctly, you betrayed him, and he betrayed you by not following you blindly into the dark."

Zuko ignored her. He had enough. He just swallowed his pride, he turned on his heel, and marched off, feeling Azula's smirk against the back of his neck as he did.



Zuko didn't want to do this.

He stood behind Azula like a looming shadow, harmless and silent. She was speaking to the people, demanding they give her information, and if they had none, they would be evicted from Fire nation land and sent packing. Zuko didn't know what Azula expected. Did she really expect that they were secretly hiding the girl, and would turn her over at a moment's notice? They were doomed whether they had her or not.

Zuko figured he knew the Earth kingdom well enough. They were a tight-knit bunch, despite their varieties. They were kind to desperate strangers. They fiercely opposed the enemy. He had only ever met one exception to the stereotype, and those men were probably jerks to everyone.

He doubted that such a calm town, that already opposed the Fire nation and had kicked its representatives out, would throw a young woman to the figurative dogs.

"Very well then," Azula said. "You are all evicted. You have three minutes before we start torching."

Zuko watched the crowd rapidly disappear, angrily, bitterly, and while some lingered in fury, as if to fight. But they, too, left, as the flames surged up in the hands of the opposition. By the time two minutes were up, all had disappeared, racing to their homes, except for one girl, and Zuko looked down at her in sheer terror.

"Li, it's you," she said, sounding rightly confused. There was no anger there, no threat, but Zuko just wanted to run and hide, he was so struck with embarrassment. Azula looked between the girl and her brother.

"Friend of yours, Zuko?"

"We've met," Zuko said, hesitantly, and the girl's mouth was open, slightly, her round brown eyes wide. She looked as if she could have cried. He wanted to apologize for misleading her, but Azula was right there, and he couldn't apologize to an Earth kingdom peasant in front of her. So he just said, "You're Song."

Song clamped her lips together and stared. Then she said, creakily, "I trusted you, we saved your Uncle's life, we fed you... and all along..."

Azula stepped in. She stepped between Zuko and Song like a divider, and she said, right in the girl's face, "Don't waste our time. This is Prince Zuko of the Fire nation, soon be to Fire Lord. He's not some boorish Earth kingdom boy. What business could a mere peasant have with him?"

Song replied, "I don't have any business with _him_. But _Li_ took advantage of our hospitality, lied to us, and stole my ostrich-horse."

Zuko thought she was awful brave to stand face-to-face with Azula, but Azula lifted her hand, and he wasn't about to watch Song get slapped around, be it with flames or not. He grabbed Azula's wrist and she looked back at him, clearly annoyed.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Azula demanded.

He said to Song, "Just go." He struggled to say it in front of Azula, and he added to her, "Please, go."

Song stared at him for a heartbeat, in a mix of anger and sadness. She didn't say anything, and then she turned on her heel and ran off. Zuko waited until she had put some distance between them, and then he let go of Azula, who turned to face him.

"Saying 'please' to a commoner," Azula said, almost in disbelief. "You ought to be drawn and quartered."

"Maybe," he replied, though it was more because he realized how much of a jerk he was being, and not to do with how he'd just ignored Azula's precious caste system.



She wasn't a child to be cradled against her mother's chest, to weep for all the trouble she'd cause and feel even a fraction of remorse. Indeed, Azula barely grasped the concept of remorse. To feel remorse implied she'd even approach feelings of regret or guilt, it clearly stated she could make a mistake.

Azula didn't make mistakes.

She didn't break a sweat as she strutted the empty roads of the streets, Ty Lee and Mai following in her footsteps. The heat from all sides, the burning or smouldering buildings licked with flames and sending constant heat waves towards them, was oppressive and all-engulfing.

Mai's pallid skin glowed with perspiration, and Ty Lee's face was reddened. But Azula, pale and harsh, seemed to frighten off even the heat with her fervoured steps and hardened nature alone.

"Why do we bother torching it if we've already won?" Ty Lee said, and Azula glanced her way, annoyed. Ty Lee continued, gripping her chin in a pose of thought, "I kind of liked being in the circus."

"Because they're resisting the Fire nation's command," Azula scoffed, and she said, "I refuse to let them struggle like fools."

Mai picked at her nails as she walked, and her lips pursed as she found one with a bit of dirt under it. She scraped it out with her thumbnail, annoyed. She didn't point out that there was nothing in the Earth kingdom left to conquer, and that the North wasn't exactly going to be a problem, what with the Comet coming. Mai wasn't exactly keen on being torched for speaking up.

"Nothing to do with the fact that that Kyoshi girl escaped you?" Mai asked, dully. "A little bit of punishment for the innocent?"

Azula didn't exactly come across as angry, at the remark, but the atmosphere certainly seemed more hostile. She said, smoothly, "No." There was no offered excuse.

"That's right!" Ty Lee said, loudly, "I didn't even think about that! Azula, you ALWAYS get what you want, I guess it kind of sucks that you have that sort of failure on your record, huh? I don't blame you."

Mai shot Ty Lee a look that could only be described as a warning. Ty Lee brushed it off without notice, and Azula only redoubled her walking speed, so that Mai had to move into a half-hearted jog to keep up. Ty Lee skipped along, swinging her arms.

"I don't understand it," Azula said, under her breath, and there was a hitch to her voice that wasn't frustration. She seemed merely puzzled, but there was a definite element of anger to her tone. Both of her companions figured it was normal, but Azula never spoke in that tone. She continued, more to herself than anything, "What can be done?"

Mai shrugged as she jogged, and she let out a long breath and a calm, "So why bring Zuko along if we're just going to be finding some girl?" Mai didn't tack on the doleful sort of "to keep me company?" she was thinking, as it would be unusual for Azula to think of others, even her best friends.

Azula glanced over her shoulder at Mai, and came to a halt so suddenly that Ty Lee almost smashed into her. Mai stopped, too, a couple of steps after Azula, and she turned to look back. Ty Lee folded her arms.

"I don't want him alone at the Palace," Azula said, as if that explained it. But despite her lack of words to properly explain her hatred for the situation, both of her companions (or at least Mai) seemed to grasp the gritty details in her mind. Azula considered, "I don't want him on that throne for long, and I won't have time to find the escapee and her stupid boyfriend when I'm Fire Lord."

But Azula was determined to make giving Zuko the throne a worthwhile thing to have done. Azula didn't regret.

"And when I'm ready to take the throne, killing him isn't an option," Azula said, "I have to take my rightful place back using the leverage I have."

Neither Ty Lee nor Mai seemed willing to tell Azula that it wasn't her rightful place to begin with, that she had earned it through luck and chance and illegal methods, not by hard work. No one had opened Zuko's mouth for him, in the war room, and no one had placed those words in his mouth. No, his own nature, caring for the swine, had done him in in the end, not anything she had done, and _she_ had restored him.

Azula knew it, but she also believed that if she didn't like her fate, it didn't have to be hers. Just as she could send her dinner back to the kitchens if it was unsatisfactory, Azula felt she could deny fate and just change it for a new one, one that included a crowning and power, rather than being the second child, the back-up plan for the throne.

There had never been a female Fire Lord ruling alone, and she would be content to take that place. Whether Zuko was Fire Lord or not, she would never be a mere breeding cow. He could try as he might: Zuko wouldn't deny her her place.

Azula would take her throne by any means necessary, no matter what.



Mai was good at sneaking around. Over the years, she had become skilled at being unseen, unheard. It was a requirement, in her home, and she fulfilled it grudgingly. Mai wasn't allowed to do otherwise.

It was easy, then, to avoid Zuko. She just couldn't let him see her like this, holding her injured wrist and all marked on the face.

_Yeah, stupid _earthbenders_, right_, Mai thought, bitterly, as she glanced around a corner and saw Zuko standing at the end of the hall. She leant back, and waited, and then checked again. He rounded another corner and disappeared from view, so she stepped out into the hall and turned at the first hall. When she found Ty Lee's room, she sighed, and hesitated, before opening the door with her good hand.

Mai shoved the door closed behind her, and the metal clanged and rang loudly. Ty Lee looked up from her place on the floor and smiled, and Mai didn't smile back. Ty Lee's smile didn't fade, until her eyes flickered to Mai's cheek.

"What happened?!" she yelped. She climbed to her feet and rushed over.

"Don't," Mai said, as Ty Lee reached to touch the bandage. "It's not serious. I spoke to Azula about going home, and she wasn't happy."

"Omigosh," Ty Lee sighed, "Mai, that's really bad, I told you not to talk to her about it! Was Azula mad?" Mai just stared at Ty Lee apathetically, not amused. Ty Lee took a second and corrected herself with a tentative, "Okay, so she was mad. That's not good."

"Mm," Mai nodded. "Don't tell Zuko what happened. No matter what."

"Why not? Are you… worried?" Ty Lee asked, as she sat down on the floor again.

She was uncharacteristically sober. Seated on the floor in the lotus position, though with her elbows touching the floor in front of her, she looked up at Mai. Mai didn't seem to react, much, as she was as stony as usual.

"Yes," she replied.

"Aah," Ty Lee said, and then she continued with a cautious, "Do you think Azula's going to kill him…?"

"Ssh," Mai shushed her, "I don't even want to think about it. Azula's going to be a danger to us soon, if she isn't already."

"But Mai," Ty Lee protested, "Azula's our friend. Why would she be a danger to us?"

"Look," Mai said, with a frustrated huff. Why didn't she get it? Why wasn't she catching on to the problem, here? No one was immune to Azula forever. "Ty Lee, there's nothing she wouldn't do to get what she wants. If you don't stay loyal to her, then she's going to get rid of you. She's already going to get rid of me."

"Azula wouldn't do that," Ty Lee said, tentatively. She sounded like she had trouble believing herself. She added, "Azula's just looking out for what's best for the Fire nation… what's best for everyone. You and I aren't against that. At least, I'm not."

"I want what's best for everyone, too," Mai said.

"Then why would Azula hit you?" Ty Lee frowned, putting her chin in her hands.

"Because I told her to give up on the Kyoshi warriors," Mai replied, "and that she was being petty."

Ty Lee gasped, rising out of her folded-up position, and she flipped to her feet. Within seconds, she was holding Mai by the forearms and shaking her lightly, her voice concerned and her face full of sorrow.

"Mai," Ty Lee said, "Azula's a good person. She is, she's our friend, and she's just trying to keep that girl from hurting people. Why would you stand up against her? She's not doing anything wrong."

"You sound like you have trouble believing yourself," Mai said, with a slight huff of frustration.

"I d-don't!" Ty Lee replied, almost at a whine. Mai shrugged her off.

"I don't want to be her friend anymore," Mai said. "But I don't want you to get involved with this if you still want to hang around. If you want to stay with Azula, that's your choice."

Ty Lee backed off, folding her hands together, and she said, "I'm sorry, Mai." Her eyes were tearing up. She said, "I honestly think Azula's doing this for good, she's just making the world a better place."

"Whatever," Mai replied, frustrations getting the better of her. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and she turned on her heel and left, slamming the door behind her.

Despite how bad things went for Mai, there was a perk: they left for home the next day.



"Princess," the messenger said, almost choking on his own saliva, he had been running so hard. He coughed for a moment, and apologized profusely while Azula looked down on him in disgust. When he had composed himself, he said, "I have important news from the seventy-first unit."

"Go on," Azula said.

Zuko knew this couldn't be good. He looked at the man, almost pitying him, and the man certainly looked terrified out of his wits. When he reached up with the scroll, he kept his head down and his eyes on his feet.

Azula unrolled it, and her eyes roved the page. To Zuko's surprise, she actually gasped, and then her eyebrows dipped and her mouth twisted into a look that was undeniably furious. Zuko asked, "What is it?"

"The Avatar is alive and headed to the North Pole," Azula said, darkly.

"What are you going to do?" Zuko asked, tentatively. His heart was pounding. Wasn't the Avatar presumed dead?

"Kill him," Azula replied, crisply. Her eyes flicked to the messenger, who was straightened up, but he looked no more relaxed than before. She ordered, "Rally the men and women. I want every one of them at the North Pole. It's time for _part two_ of the siege of the North."

Zuko felt different feelings boil up in him. He only said, "Are we going now?"

"No," Azula said, "we're going to go back to the Fire nation for your coronation, and then we're going to the North. We have time to kill before the Comet, anyway."

She sounded so casual, and yet so furious, as if it were nothing. As if she didn't think it was a problem at all. Zuko didn't have anything to say to this, so he just folded his arms and glanced to the side. His eyes happened to fall on Mai and Ty Lee, who were walking up. Azula smiled at them, but Zuko frowned.

"What happened to your face?" Zuko asked, concerned, gesturing needlessly at the bandages on Mai's cheek. There was a large flat piece of cotton stretched across one cheek, and two cloth straps to hold it in place. One passed over her nose, and the other across her chin. She did not look comfortable.

"I got in trouble with an armed earthbender," Mai said, slowly. "It's nothing."

"That sucks," Zuko replied. He approached, and stupidly reached out to touch the bandage. "Are you okay?"

She brushed his hand away, and said, "It's fine, don't touch it, you moron."

Azula smiled, and said, "Next time, you won't be so quick to jump into battle, I don't think."

"Of course not," Mai replied, and Zuko heard something bitter and hostile in her voice there, but he considered that he was imagining it, especially as Mai gave Azula a curt smile.



It was the time of his coronation, and Zuko couldn't breathe.

The idea was torture: he was a good person, he had always been a good person, but he was forced to do bad things, and he couldn't decide what was worse. He couldn't decide whether it was better for Azula to twist him around like a puppet, jerk his limbs no matter how he resisted, use him as her horrible man-shaped mouthpiece for her horrid cause, or if it were better to just let her be the one on stage, controlling everything from the right side of the curtain.

The sage lowered the metal hairpiece down and set it in Zuko's hair. His _coronation_. He was _Fire Lord Zuko._ From the silence, barely a few feet away, Azula burst out laughing, and every head turned in her direction.

His throat hurt. His lungs hurt. He strained to breathe normally but Azula was laughing hard, so hard she had her hands in the air beside her and she was holding her palms to the sky like she was effortlessly carrying the weight of the world. She laughed, she laughed, and Zuko realized he had never seen her laugh since she was a child, ever, not even once. He'd never seen her laugh as a woman and not a girl.

And here she was, laughing in front of the whole crowd of people, like she had lost her sanity. She laughed, she laughed. She threw her head back and twisted her fingers together so that her claws dug the air like daggers, and she brought one of her hands to her throat and she traced the contour from her chin to her collarbone in one smooth gesture. She was laughing so hard she was enjoying herself.

Her fingers trailed over the ridge of her collar, down the slide of her chest, drifting away from her clothes as her back arched. She straightened up again, and then laughed more, scarcely stopping for breath.

And when she did, those golden eyes were clear and hardened as if she'd never laughed at all, and the thousands on eyes on her didn't blink or dare look away for an instant. Zuko could feel himself dying, in his new chair, smothered under the heat of the flames and the surge of the fire and that horrible, horrible laugh.

He couldn't tell her to stop. No one could. She just kept going, until _she_ decided she had had enough.

"Princess?" one troubled old general asked, and Azula ignored him, as she did everyone else. To Zuko, it appeared as if she thought she was the only one in the room, free to burst with any sort of horrid emotion she wanted.

Seeing Azula laugh was the sickest thing he had ever seen in his life, and he had experienced some of the lowest lows, he had crawled on his belly among peasants, and he had seen some of the most tortured souls in the world.

And Azula surpassed any nightmare, any dream, anything real he had ever witnessed. Azula was horrifying, and Zuko fought to fill his lungs with air.

She paced down the stairs, stepping out in front of him, and there she stopped laughing, to say, so brightly, "My valiant brother, so boldly you stand before us today, not as a disfigured and ugly banished prince, but as Fire Lord. I simply cannot find the proper words to compliment your ascension to glory, my Lord."

She inclined her head, just slightly, so that her dark eyebrows fell over her eyes in a menacing tilt, and her bangs fell forward over her face like curtains. She said to him, though everyone could hear, "What's done, Zuko, cannot be undone. Hold onto the pieces while you can."

Zuko could say nothing, he was still trying to breathe.

She smiled, simply, and turned. He watched her walk from the raised platform to the bottom of the stairs, in long, slow steps, with all the nation watching. She was deliberate, flawlessly graceful, and Zuko saw eyes being stripped from him and given to Azula, in wonder and surprise and fear.

The people loved Azula and hated him. The people always loved Azula and always hated him. And, Zuko realized, he was sitting on the throne where all of them would know where to direct that hatred, and Azula was the only one controlling that hatred.



Azula was gone for hours. Where she went, she didn't tell anyone, though some people saw her wandering the halls, smiling to herself. Others claimed to see her meandering about in the gardens, one went as far as claiming she was luring turtleducks over with bits of food and dashing them against the rocks for fun. Some people insisted she had locked herself in her room, laughing like a maniac.

None were true, of course. That was fictitious propaganda.

In reality, Azula was in her father's bedroom, seated on the bed. It was made up neatly, as if the whole palace expected someone to return to it. In truth, it was waiting for Zuko, who would take up residence in those quarters that night, but Azula liked to think about it in other ways.

Zuko would sleep in the bed where she had assassinated their father. He would lie where his father's corpse lay for hours, he would lie where his mother had once lain, he would sleep where his parents slept, together. And he would know it, and think about it.

It was supposed to be her bed, someday. And Azula considered then, perhaps it would be hers tomorrow. Maybe the day after. As soon as she could find an occasion where there would be no suspicions.

Azula understood that she was gifted, that people would doubt her but never call her on it, but what could be called a _fifth_ assassination in the royal family in her life, after centuries of only the occasional murder, would be pushing the envelope a bit too far. People believed Sozin and Ozai murdered unlawfully, and there were suspicions that Ursa's disappearance and Lu-Ten's death were assassinations too. If Zuko died, too, people would only look to Azula more, seeing as it just left her and Iroh.

She needed to make it really look like an accident, especially now, when people were seriously starting to doubt her sanity.

Zuko's coronation ceremony was over, but the festivities were probably well into swing by now. A glance out the window, to the great courtyard, only confirmed it.

Anger plagued her. The Avatar was alive. Her prisoner had escaped, along with precious information. Her father was dead, and she didn't even have the throne to show for it. Her _brother_ was the Fire Lord.

She lifted her hands in front of her face, marveled at her own pristine white skin, and felt the tingle of energy along her bony fingers. She didn't gather it, not really feeling the need to zap anything nearby.

Zuko's party was definitely in full swing. She could hear it. That was what prompted her to push herself to her feet and stride across the room to the side door. She threw it open, and passed through the great gold-leafed frame, lighting the candles with faint breaths in their directions. They surged up, brightly, throwing the room into an unsteady, flickering light.

Ideas were coming to her.

It was her mother's dressing room, untouched for at least five years now. The make-up tins on the stand were still arranged just as they had been the last day of Ursa's palace life, and they were veiled with a thin layer of dust, proving that, at least, people still entered the place. Servants, maybe to clean, Azula didn't really know or care. When Azula approached the make-up stand, she noticed a few had finger-marks where the dust had been disturbed. The brushes were perfectly aligned, something Azula did not particularly remember about her mother: Ursa, beautiful as she was, was not particularly organized.

Azula seated herself in front of the make-up stand and picked up one delicate brush, and dipped it into the make-up remover. She stripped her eyes of all the harsh dark liner, and replaced it with soft ochre and browns. She blushed herself with rouge, replaced her wine red lips with a gentle pink. It softened her features, made the harsh contours of her cheekbones and eyebrows seem subdued. She let her hair down, combed it of its kinks, and tied her bangs back.

Azula was her mother's daughter, when she tried.

Her golden eyes flicked to the side, to the boxes stacked on the shelves. They went so high that there was a ladder for servants to climb, to get the topmost ones. They were all labelled and tied closed. Azula pulled off her ceremonial armor, her bodice, and her boots, and in just her underclothes, the loose pants and the balloon-sleeved shirt, she climbed the ladder.

She opened a few boxes, and selected the finest one. Bringing it down and dropping the box on the floor, Azula began to strip off her underclothes. When she was just stepping out of her pants, standing there in nothing but her underwear, the door opened, and she turned to face it, not even bothering to cover her pale breasts.

A male and a female servant. They looked at her, embarrassed, and started to move away, but Azula said, briskly, "Come here. I need help dressing."

The finest clothes in the Fire nation took hours to get into unassisted, and Azula knew it. She leant over while they stood there, stunned, and she picked up the under-robe and pulled it over her shoulders, closing it shut around her hips. She said to them, calmly, "Stop standing there and do something, or you'll regret it."

They jumped to life, hurriedly setting on arranging the clothes. Azula knew they had little knowledge of how to dress a noble, as they were servants, not dressers, but they didn't dare disappoint, not within reach of her anger.

Azula looked stunning in her mother's clothing. True, she wasn't quite tall enough, and her body not quite so delicate, but the clothes hid her toned body, anyway. Azula hadn't worn clothes so stunning, or so _regal_, in her life. As soon as she had been old enough to choose, Azula had taken men's clothing and fitted it to her female body. Her preferred form of dress was masculine, yet so undeniably female.

But not these robes; they were creations handed down over the centuries, red, gold and crimson silks cared for as antiques. These weren't the everyday clothing Ursa had worn, these were the heirlooms of the royal family, worn maybe once in her entire life in court, and even then, perhaps it had been only for a painting, or to sit beautifully at her husband's side.

Azula knew that women had always ruled by their husband's side, in the Fire nation, as leaders. But not Ursa. No, Ursa had chosen motherhood over the nation, and for that reason, Azula was angry. How could any woman give up that sort of power? She thought of her grandmother, who, until her unfortunate death, had ruled in the way Azula had aspired to rule. _That_ was a real woman, with the direst cruelty and the firmest hand. Her grandmother had never coddled her children.

Fiddling with the sleeves, so long they covered her hands, Azula took a few practiced steps. She had to walk in long, purposeful steps to move properly. She could easily pull it off. She dismissed the servants, making them promise not to say a word, and once they were gone, she got to work. She wasn't a perfect replica of her mother, but it had been a while since anyone had seen Ursa walk the halls of the palace. Azula would pass.

She went to her father's bed, and she pushed aside the pillows. From underneath the sheets and mattress, she pulled out the knife she knew was concealed there, for emergencies.

She held it in her hand, the metal handle cool against her skin. Under all those folds of delicate fabrics, it was completely hidden.



Zuko was being bowed to, being treated like the royalty he had been born as. It didn't quite feel the same way his father's coronation party had. Zuko had only stayed for about an hour before retiring to his room and sobbing for hours over the whole ordeal, but he spent his time at the party holding Azula's hand and watching his father being congratulated.

Azula wasn't a touchy person and she didn't really want him holding her hand, but she let him. She didn't seem distressed at all when various lords and ladies knelt before them to apologize for their mother; in fact, Azula smile and waved them off with a polite, "What happened is unfortunate, but, well, she challenged fate, and it championed her in the bitter end."

From a nine year old, this seemed intelligent, and when one lord asked her who had taught her to look at it like that, Azula had only smiled and cheekily told him she had practiced in front of a mirror, just in case. The lord then asked her, with a concerned look, "What do you mean, Princess Azula? She challenged fate?"

That was when Zuko felt his eyes starting to well and Azula's mentors come up behind them –– Li and Lo, the twin Masters with great lined faces and great stature despite their shrinking height, whisked Azula from the conversation before she could say another word.

Presently, Zuko dismissed the couple of ladies congratulating him, and he glanced to the right. Over by that walkway, that's where he had gone to see Uncle Iroh, who had shown up for a scarce few minutes. Uncle Iroh had avoided everyone's eyes, there for formalities and duties alone, but no one talked to him. Failure, they had thought. Miserable failure. But Zuko had gone over, talked to him, smiled and won a grimace of a smile back. Uncle Iroh was hurting so much, it was obvious by the new lines on his face.

But, of course, Iroh wasn't standing there tonight. No one knew where Iroh was, and Zuko felt a pang of guilt. Did he have the power to pardon Iroh now? Could he bring him home? The answer was likely no. There would be none of that, as long as Azula was alive.

Zuko let his eyes linger on the spot for a moment, and then something quite stunning happened.

"Mother?"

There she was, stepping into view, and she scanned the crowds briefly before setting her eyesight in his direction. She didn't move, and she smiled. She didn't advance towards him. And then, as Zuko considered incredulously that he was imagining it, she lifted a hand, and beckoned him to _come._

Zuko's heart beat once, and then twice, and then he bid the man coming to speak to him a hasty, "My apologies, I'll be right back", and took off in her direction.



Azula purposefully made her steps long and slow, as regal as she could. She'd been born with that walk, but it had fallen into disuse over the years. Zuko was trailing behind her, maybe twenty or so paces behind. Azula didn't look back, but she could imagine his face, stunned and shocked.

"Mom?" he said, stunned, and Azula paused, for a beat, and then lifted one hand. Zuko stopped walking, too, she heard him let out a gasp, and then she flicked her hand, gesturing him to follow, again.

"Ssh," she replied.

"Wh-what? Mom?" Zuko stammered.

She didn't say anything, she just held him there like a lure, and then, when he started to go after her, she started walking again. He followed. She walked and he trailed behind her. He didn't try to overtake her, he just tried to come up beside her, and she just kept him behind her.

Her hand curled tighter around the cold metal handle of the knife as she slipped around a corner into the dark. It was invisible to Zuko, buried under lengths of silk and held close to her body, but it would be so easy to plunge forward and into him, once she got close enough.

She could stab him, he wouldn't expect it, and he would bleed to death all over his precious mother's robes, while she smiled down at him. It would be a fitting end for such a traitor.

When she rounded that corner and stood in the shadows, confident the darkness obscured her features enough to mask her identity, she turned to face him, and she reached out with her free hand and took his. She pulled him into the dark with her, and he sounded so close to tears.

"Mom," he said, "Mom, why... what? You're _here..."_

She itched to tell him that she was a fake through laughter, but she held it back. The look on his face was so bright and happy, and he broke the magic himself –– he grabbed her forearm gently and spun her so she had to step into the light with him. He just wanted to get a better look at her, she knew, and she couldn't resist his pull. She followed it, swung into the light, and caught sight of the delight on his face for a whole ten seconds.

That handful of time was silent, him beaming at with pride and joy, and then the slow realization crept up onto him. She wasn't his mother. She was Princess Azula, not Princess Ursa. She was wicked through and through, under that delicate painted-on face.

"Wait," he said, smile vanishing, "you're––"

"Sister, not Mother," Azula smiled.

That was where things went, ultimately, wrong. Zuko grabbed her by the shoulders and backed her into the wall, and despite how Azula rolled her shoulders back and lifted her arms up to throw off his grip, it was too late. He had already pushed her down, and she was startled, in so many heavy robes, to find herself with limited movement. Zuko pushed her down before she could maneuver her legs around under all those layers.

"What's wrong with you?!" he snarled, "Dressed as our mother–– what's wrong with you?!"

Azula fumbled the knife, right there, when she had to use her hands to catch herself. It dropped, slid along the seam of her sleeve, and clattered out to the floor. Zuko noticed it, definitely, but he hardly paid it any heed, because he had pinned her down with his knees, and he was clutching the front of her many-layered kimono so tightly the lines of golden thread pulled and stressed. Her great sleeves were trapped under her and his weight, limiting how she could move her arms.

He just breathed raggedly, heavily, clinging to her throat like a wild animal, and he shouted at her, "What do you think you're doing? Going to kill me, Azula?!"

"I just fancied a walk," she hissed back, and he climbed off of her, only to haul her to her feet by the collar. Azula stumbled, feet twisted up in the fabric.

She could kill him at any moment, anyway. One flick of her hand, she could strike his heart still with a bolt of lightning. One twist, she could snap his arm. One little gesture, she could silence that wagging tongue. But, out of curiosity, to see what he'd do, she let him overpower her.

"Walk," he snarled, "walk, Azula."

He was clinging to her forearm like she was a child, he hauled her alongside him as he started to briskly walk down the halls. Azula's brain was buzzing, she was debating with herself so hard, whether to kill him for handling her like that, or whether to entertain his anger and see what he wanted.

"Where are we going?" she asked, almost purring it, though she honestly had a problem keeping up with him. Zuko just let out a vague, angry growl, and he didn't say anything.

Azula figured out, early on, where they were going. She knew it as soon as he pulled her into the left wing, as soon as he let out a hard breath as they entered their parents' private hall. Zuko's nostrils were flared in anger, his mouth curved into a dangerous frown. Azula'd never seen him that infuriated before, and it almost made her laugh.

To lose control of his emotions like that, it was pathetic.

Zuko shoved open the door to the room and dragged her to the side. She let him, still, entertaining this violence, and he shoved her into their mother's dressing room. Free, Azula rolled her shoulders and rubbed her arm, with a look of disgust.

"What do you want me to do, Zuko?" she demanded.

"Take it off," Zuko snapped, "everything of Mother's, take it off. I _won't _have you disgracing her like this."

"Are you going to force me?" Azula said, loftily.

Zuko reached over, grabbed her shoulder, and reached to pull out the topknot in her hair. Azula leant back her head, laughing in his face, and Zuko demanded, once more, "Why are you doing this? Why would you? Just to hurt me?"

"Did it work?" Azula drawled.

"Yes!" Zuko snapped. "It did, now stop! Just stop it! What do I have to do to make you stop it?!"

Azula pushed off his hand from her shoulder, and she backed away a step. She said, with a bitter smile, "I don't know, what can you do for me?"

"You're going to dog me forever," Zuko said, angrily, "no matter what I do, no matter how I run this nation, you're going to dog me until I die or give you the throne."

"Is your memory of Mother more important to you than power?" Azula asked.

"Yes," Zuko said, "yes it is. But I'm not giving it up when I can put a stop to it."

"Can you put a stop to what I'm doing?" Azula asked. That smile was savage. Zuko looked desperate, he paced back and forth once.

"Yes," he decided. "Take it off."

There was a flash of feral anger in his eyes, and Azula was not frightened in the least, until he fought her. He seized her by the front of the robes, clutching at her obi and tugging it loose. Azula gave him a shove away from her, and she hiked up her sleeves, but she was biding her time for something. She let him press her against the wall and jerk at the collar of her robes, dragging them down off her shoulders. She pretended to struggle, just to wait this whole part out. He pulled off the next layer, so she had three layers of robes hanging off her elbows. He was about to tug off the last layer.

Azula snarled, "Unhand me!"

That was precisely when General Rhee and General Choi came in through the door, only to see the new Fire Lord pinning his half-stripped sister to the wall.



"If I hadn't come to you first," Zuko asked, "Would you believe me, or Azula?"

Mai sighed, but this time, it was not one of frustration. She had her arms folded against her stomach and her head down, and she sat alone on the edge of his bed, holding herself like she was going to be sick. Zuko waited, pacing. He felt antsy, like Azula would appear from anywhere and kill him off. It didn't matter where from: the bedroom door, his wardrobe, from under the bed. Azula was going to kill him when he least expected it. Zuko half expected her to pop through his bedroom mirror at him, he was so on-edge.

"I have no reason to believe her," Mai said, "but it sounds far-fetched. Almost too weird to have actually happened."

Zuko paused, almost nervous, and he said, "Look, I told you exactly what happened. She showed up dressed as Mother, I got angry, and when I told her to take the clothes off, two of the Generals on the council came in and misinterpreted what was happening. Clearly she's crazier than we all thought. She's really lost it now. And the council doesn't buy that she's the crazy one –– they think I'm the screwed up one!"

"I don't know," Mai sighed. "I don't know where my loyalties lie, it all sounds so unbelievable that she'd do something so... juvenile but extreme. I don't know."

She fell silent with what seemed like doubt, though her face said she was apathetic. She picked at the bandage on her wrist with something akin to boredom. Zuko knew her better than that. He just looked away, swallowed hard, and he resolved to end this the only way he could.



When Zuko sat in the Fire Lord's chair, alone, Azula took a seat to his right, the place where a wife would sit, one day. She took that seat comfortably, and she watched him carefully. The throne room was entirely empty, other than them. Zuko avoided her eyes for a good moment.

"I think I understand my purpose, now," he said, darkly.

"About time you did," she drawled, "I was starting to get worried you'd never embrace yourself for what you are."

"And what am I?" Zuko demanded.

Azula took a moment, and she folded one leg over the other. She sat higher in her chair, her head held high. Azula enjoyed making Zuko wait for what he wanted, after all. She gave him chances to take what he wanted for himself, but she avoided spoon-feeding him when she could.

As much as she loved to see him on all fours and begging, shame on his name was shame on the royal family, and that reflected on her. She liked Zuko pathetic, out of the way, but never quite subservient or out of the picture.

It would have reflected badly on her, as the next Fire Lord, if she did so.

"You're the Fire Lord," she said, calmly. "Fire Lord Zuko."

Zuko stared at her, and she watched his pupils shrink, contracting in surprise and fear, and Azula let out a faint huff of amusement. It was if he still hadn't grasped the magnitude of his position, on that elegant seat, with that elegant hairpiece. She said, delicate still, "Do you not like your title?"

Zuko hesitated, and then he said, overbold and rash, "Fire Lord... it's brought me nothing but trouble in my life so far. I realized that what I am is more than that."

Azula let that settle, and then she said, "_More_ than Fire Lord? I understand the position is quite mighty, dear brother, but you're crossing the borders of hedonism to claim you're godlike, especially after having the title for barely a _week_."

"I never claimed that," he snapped, so afraid to be wrong.

"To be more than Fire Lord is to be greater than human, Lord Zuko," Azula said, loftily, "But what do you plan to do with your power? Grant yourself luxury and peace, and leave the rest of the country to rot, while you tend to the peasants? Someone like you certainly couldn't command the armies. You don't have the experience. I'd love to stand in."

Oh, she would get what she wanted.

Zuko turned his head away, and he settled his eyes somewhere on the floor, in the distance. Azula waited, patiently, though her fingers itched to tap, and her mouth yearned to cut it him down and implore. Zuko finally looked over her way again, after a few long minutes. He seemed to struggle with his own courage, and her eyes settled on him with a curious sort of malice.

The way a cat wanted to bat a mouse.

"I'll think about it," he resolved.

"That's what I like to hear," she replied, and off she went again. He watched her go, and she relished that she still held his attention like no other could.



"Hey, you, long time no see," Zuko called. He hadn't spent time with her in a week, he was so busy with meetings on the entire world. Mai was sitting on the couch with her back to him, with her head slumped forward. She wasn't moving. In fact, she didn't seem to register the voice a single bit. Alarmed, he said, "Mai?"

When she didn't even move, he reacted rapidly. He quite literally jumped over the couch and stood on the seat next to her, and she finally reacted. He crouched down and asked, "What's wrong, Mai?"

He sounded genuinely concerned. She turned her face away from him, reflexively, and she said, "I'm fine."

"Then why are you just sitting here? Hey, you got the bandages taken off?"

He reached over, and took her chin with his fingertips, and turned her face towards his. He was going to lean in for a kiss when he realized her eyes make-up was smudged under her eyes in dark circles, and she was holding her wrist in front of her. Her cheek was imprinted with a hand-mark, and it was scarlet red. It was a burn.

"What?" he uttered, unable to really form words. Anger came to him rapidly, he said, "Who burned you." It wasn't even a question; it was an order.

"It's nothing," Mai said, stonily. Despite her blank face, her voice held a bit of frustration. She continued, as she looked away again, "I'm tired. I'm just so _tired_."

"You look tired, yeah, I could tell, but that doesn't explain who did it, and why," he agreed, and she didn't seem offended at all, she just sat there holding her wrist. When she didn't reply and he started to repeat himself, with a lot more anger, she sighed and rolled back her sleeve.

She said, calmly, "There was no knife accident. I fumbled a candle. Burnt myself."

Her wrist was scarlet red, too, and the mark was shaped like a thick band, rather than just a random patch. It was large, and it stretched around her wrist to the back. In the dim light, it definitely looked like a handprint.

"Uh, I don't think so," Zuko said, dubiously, and annoyed. "Pretty funny candle."

"Who am I kidding?" Mai said, exasperated. "Azula did it."

Somewhere in his head, he had seen it coming. What kept him from accusing her from the start was only the fact that he didn't think Azula would really hurt her friends, or maim them in any way. In hindsight, he probably should have thrown caution to the wind and recklessly accused his sister left, right and center, right from the beginning.

"What?" he said. He was so stunned, despite how obvious it all seemed, that he didn't even make his protests interrogative. "WHAT."

"That night where I came back with the bandages. We argued," Mai said, "and she grabbed me. But it'll heal eventually, it just smarts, it's not serious or anything."

"When? Why? Over what?!" Zuko demanded.

"Well…"



_Mai always faced everything with the same face._

_It was her gambling face, her infallibly blank face. To the world, she was a bored teenager, and that was it. Nothing seemed to imply she was angry, or upset, and unlike Azula, Mai truly could remain calm. Azula may have mastered self-control, but Mai had been born to be in control of her feelings. There was no other way around it._

_That was the point of her entire life, wasn't it? Wasn't her point to be calm and subservient?_

_So when Mai confronted Azula, she kept that same face on. It was the one that masked any feelings she had, that apathetic stare with the lidded eyes. Even Azula couldn't read that one._

"_Can we talk?" Mai asked. Her voice betrayed her. No matter how strong her stoic expression was, Mai just couldn't keep the slightest bit of concern out of her voice. Azula devoured that sort of thing like a starving carnivore. It was viciously, and it was bloodily._

_Azula didn't turn around, standing at the edge of the burnt city, the smoke and glowing embers keeping the air as hot as hell. Azula was watching it intensely. She said, flatly, "I don't see why not."_

_"Is everything all right with you?" Mai asked. She folded her arms, slowly, leaning her weight on one foot. She said, "Ty Lee and I are a bit worried about you. Ever since your dad died, you've been… violent. More than usual, anyway."_

_"I'm only ruling as I see fit," Azula replied, calmly. "Father didn't think such behaviour appropriate – punishing his council for disobedience, for example. Then again, Father didn't truly understand the situation that the Fire nation is in."_

_Mai thought this very difficult to accept. She said, "You know, Azula, the council may not have the ability to revoke your power, but they do have to approve what you do."_

_"No, they don't," Azula said, "things weren't always run this way, and they were better, then. I have the council under my control, and they have no power at all if I choose to ignore them." She looked at Mai then, almost with disgust. "What does it matter, to you?"_

_Mai shifted. She said, "There is such a thing as overconfidence. I'm just looking out for you. I want to know what you think there is to gain, by running around the Earth kingdom and torching things."_

_Azula turned around then, shifting her weight to one foot and pivoting, just slightly, just enough to turn her head to Mai. Her face was decidedly set, though one eyebrow lifted casually. She said, "Are you questioning me?"_

"_Yes." It was confident, but maybe not confident enough. She continued, when Azula's expression soured, "Azula, I think we should go home. This is stupid, this is pointless."_

"_Excuse me?" Azula replied, and she actually started walking towards Mai. Mai held her ground, determined, and Azula said, "I don't see why you would think that."_

"_Because your justification is just that you want the Avatar's body, and that the Kyoshi warrior has information you don't want getting loose," Mai said, "Why does the crisped body of a kid matter? So you can parade it around? And why bother with someone you broke? It's not like she's a threat to you."_

"_I don't need justification for my actions," Azula replied._

"_Maybe you do," Mai said. She tried to make it sound diplomatic, but Azula was staring at her with absolute hatred. Mai said, "I'm supposedly your best friend. I think I have the_ right _to know what you're doing, why you're doing this, because it involves me and people I love. Azula, this isn't exactly fun."_

_Azula came so close that there was barely a foot between them. Mai was tempted to step back, but she held her ground still. Azula walked to the side, and rounded Mai once, in an inspecting circle. She asked, circling like a shark, "How many friends have you ever had, Mai? What do you know about friends?"_

"_Enough to know that real friends don't abuse their friends like this," Mai said, calmly. _

"_Oh please. I know that you don't make friends, and never did," Azula said, "Never. You are too aloof, too quiet, just not friendly enough. You didn't make a single new friend in all your years of school, but I was your friend. Ty Lee was your friend. You had us, you didn't need to make others, and you were determined to keep us. And if I don't live up to your expectations – expectations I set myself – then it's your price to pay."_

_Mai didn't say anything, so Azula said, calmly, "What do you want me to do, Mai? What is it you expect to leave this conversation with?"_

"_I want us to go home," Mai said, and suddenly she was saying more to Azula about her feelings than she had in her entire life. It rolled out of her without hesitation. "All of us. I want Ty Lee to be able to go back to the circus. I want Zuko to be happy, and rule without fear. I want you to be happy. I want to get on with my life, not worry about a war we've already won!"_

_And Azula moved forward, and Mai refused to move back. Azula grabbed Mai by the wrist, her hand scorching hot, and she slapped Mai once across the face with the other hand. They stayed like that for ten seconds, with both girls in a stony silence. Mai just held her tongue between her teeth to keep herself from making a noise. Azula only had to hit her once to get her point across._

"_The war's won," Azula hissed, "when I_ say _it's won."_

_She let go of Mai's wrist, and cast it aside. Mai followed the gesture loosely, and only then did she let out a breath of pain. No noise, but one sharp inhale. _

"_Get back to the ship," Azula said, viciously calm. "You are not to see Zuko. You are to bandage your wrist, your cheek -- you got into a fight with an Earthbender and you were injured. That is the _only_ story you will tell anyone, am I understood?"_

_Mai held Azula's eyes for an instant, and then she did exactly that_.



Zuko hardly gave her a moment to think before he strode up to her, almost banging the doors against the walls as he shoved them open. He was there, he commanded attention, and for the first time, he caught Azula's attention as a threat. Her shoulders went back.

He said, firmly, "The war's over, Azula. I'm going to call the troops home, call the colonies home. Everyone. I don't want a single Fire nation man, woman, or child in the entire Earth Kingdom."

Azula's eyes widened, and there was that anger. Her eyebrows lifted. The traitor, the blood traitor, the traitor to the royal family would sully their name, and throw all their ancestors' hard work to nothing. Wasting such divine right! She laid back her shoulders and lifted her head higher, and she pushed herself from her seat to stand in front of him.

"You wouldn't _dare_," she said. She struggled to rein her anger in, to remain calm, because she wouldn't allow such a display to appear before her brother. She repeated herself, louder, "You wouldn't _dare_ shame our family like that. We took the Earth kingdom, and it no longer exists. All the great cities fell, along with its king and its military. They are spent and it is _ours! _You would dare back away from such a prize?! You would dare give up the Water tribe and the _world_?!"

"This war has been pointless," Zuko said, "Now, now I understand what my purpose has been, all these years. When I said I was more than Fire Lord, I wasn't kidding around. I'll bring peace."

She could hardly keep the laughter back. She said, dark and angry and infuriated, "Ha ha—your purpose, Zuzu? To stop the progress we've made? To deprive the Fire nation of the glory it has finally won? To do your peace-loving mother _proud_?"

Zuko stood taller than her. He was right up in her face, his chest almost to hers, and Azula took a step back, almost out of disgust. Zuko said, after a hard glare and frustration, "I'm going to deliver the Fire nation from this wretched war and restore peace. I'll prove that the Avatar isn't the one that brings peace—people are. And I'll bring it to all of us."

Azula stared, holding his gaze unblinking, and then she said, viciously, "And what happens when your precious peasants starve? When two million soldiers come home? Another two million colony citizens, many of whom have never seen the Fire nation in their lives?"

Zuko said nothing, and Azula demanded, "And what happens when your precious nation revolts against you?"

Still nothing.

"And, what, Zuko, when your name goes down in history as the man who walked away from the spoils his sister worked so hard to win, for a father so great?"

Then, Zuko reacted. It was explosive, it was angry, and Azula was like the lone person standing at the empty foot of a dam bursting. He let out an angry shout, incomprehensible and feral in nature, and he snarled at her, "I hate you! I BANISH you! Get out of my sight, get out of my palace, and get out of my nation! I never want to see your miserable face in these lands ever again! Go die in a ditch somewhere!"

Azula was fast. In her rage, she shoved forward, seizing her elder brother by the throat. She pushed him back, into his throne, so that his head clanged against the back of the seat, and his arms flailed out before grabbing her arm.

She didn't have his physical strength, but with her other arm lifted and the heat clearly forming, Zuko didn't move. He froze, like stone, and looked up at her in fear. For that instant, she relished that look, and she continued pooling the heat in her palm, while he stared into her eyes in pure, terrified, hatred.

That was what she liked to see. That was what calmed her—the power of her position. Holding him down filled her with peace. It reminded her, overall, that she still held sway over him, that she outmatched him with ease. He didn't even come close.

"Remember this?" she said, softly, and she didn't even need an answer to know that he did. "I could even it out for you. Make the other side match."

He stared, and he knew exactly how vulnerable a position he was in. She knew it, too, and she didn't worry about it, as a result. After all, if he tried anything, if he tried to breathe, if he tried to move or fight back, she would plunge that ball of white-hot flame right into his right eye.

"I'm not afraid of you," Zuko said, voice raspy under the pressure of her hand. He said, "And I know what you're after."

"What is it I'm after, Zuko?" Azula said.

"You killed father," Zuko said, rapidly, "so that when I took the throne, you could use me as your puppet, until you take the throne yourself."

"Why would I waste my time? If I wanted to be Fire Lord, I would have just taken it in the first place, without detouring through you. You know how I dislike wearing those formal white clothes… imagine having to survive two funerals and _two_ crownings. No, no. Two ceremonies would have been be enough. One for Father's untimely death, and one for my own crowning."

Azula scoffed, and she let go of his throat. He slumped in his seat and took a huge breath, and then he lunged forward towards her. She sidestepped, deftly, and he ended up stumbling forward, off the edge of the platform and narrowly avoiding a dangerous step into the flames around it. She waited for him to recover.

Zuko stared at her, long and hard, and then he said, angrily, "Then what are you after, in the end?"

Azula cocked an eyebrow and smiled. She said, brightly, "Guess."

"You wouldn't go this far just to control the military, and rule by _my_ side," Zuko said, accusingly.

"Obviously," Azula said. "Besides, it's not like I don't control the military already."

"Then why?" he demanded. "Or do you just enjoy making my life miserable? Is that it?"

Azula scoffed again, at that sort of arrogance. She parted the flames on the platform and walked through them, jumping down to the floor on the other side. Once there, she looked back at him and she said, with another smile, "Oh, don't be so vain, brother. Surely I have better things to do with my time."

"You're crazy," Zuko said, accusatory. "First mother, now father -- and I thought you loved him, but I was wrong. You don't love anyone but yourself."

He was upright, and on the dais he towered over her, the flames casting horrible shadows all over his face, highlighting his harsher features. Highlighting the ridges of his scar, where the skin had bubbled up. But even so tall and imposing, Azula never felt a single flicker of fear.

"Don't worry, Zuzu, I love _you_," Azula said, so sweetly she could have made herself sick. It was like downing lemons after indulging in sweets for days and days. It stung her own tongue, but it stung Zuko worse.

"I hate you," he replied, confirming it, "I hate you, I hate you. When are you just going to _stop?_"

"Stop what?" she asked, her wicked lips curling up at the corners, her eyebrows dipping. Her eyes glinted, her voice was sickly sweet for those two little words. Mockingly innocent.

"This game," Zuko said, "where you strip me of what I love most."

"Everything I've ever done has been for me," Azula said, "what makes you think that what you love is what I think about? No, brother. They're, coincidentally, what stands in my way."

"Mother stood in your way?" Zuko demanded, "Father stood in your way? What do you want, Azula? If you don't want to be Fire Lord, what do you want?"

Azula gave him a pause, a long moment to regret asking it. And then she replied, honest as ever.

"I want the entire world, as one, to kneel to me, even if they're doing it because their spines are severed at the hips," she breathed.

Zuko seemed scalded. He didn't say a word, until he snarled, "I vow I'll kill you. I'll kill you for the good of the world, for the good of everyone!

When she walked away, she heard him yelling after her, knew he was yearning to follow, but he didn't leave his post. He kept himself in line, thankfully, lingering around his chair but not leaving. Such was the Fire Lord's duty. Order, not act. For once, his eyes were on her and she could barely wait to get out of his sight.

Better things to do with her time, indeed. First thing the next morning, they'd be en route to the North Pole, and Azula would claim her world.


	9. Emin's Sentiment, part one

Ohhhh boy. This took a while.

Part 2 is coming sooner or later. I had to divide this chapter into two pieces because otherwise it would be far too long for anyone to read, even for the most-bored people in the world.

Well, not that much, but it was still long.

By some weird feat of events, the last chapter is done, but the next isn't. Weird!



**CHAPTER NINE: EMIN'S SENTIMENT, PART ONE**



Sokka and Suki looked up the hill, and Sokka took a hold on Suki's arm in surprise when he spotted his friend. There was Aang, sure enough, leaning on Toph for support, his brown hair fuzzy and unkempt, and his eyes wide.

Sokka let out a whoop of laughter and clapped his hands, and he called up, "Hey, sleepyhead, about time you joined us!" He could barely contain his joy, he let go of Suki and jumped up and down a few times, and then grabbed onto Suki again, still bouncing on the balls of his feet and cheering.

Aang put on a grin and he replied, "Sorry about that, Sokka." His eyes drifted sideways, and he said, "Hey, Suki!"

Suki brushed off Sokka's arm to bow, and she lowered her eyes and said, respectfully, "Hello, Aang! It's good to see you about! How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a bit funny, but I'm pretty good," Aang replied, cheerily. He then added, "Are you okay?"

Suki glanced at Katara and frowned. Katara had the grace to look apologetic, and Suki replied, "I'm fine, thank you."

"That's good," Aang replied, and he blundered right into the conversation they all knew was inevitable: "Thanks for saving Appa. It means more than anything to me."

Suki seemed almost bitter about the subject, Sokka noticed, but she didn't express it. She just smiled, and she bowed again, with a polite, "It was my duty." It seemed a bit cold to Sokka, as if there were no personal level to why she had done it, but there was nothing that could be done about that. Of course Suki cared about Appa, about Aang. Sokka just knew she resented sacrificing the Earth kingdom, Ba Sing Se, the Avatar, her friends and _herself_ for a bison, no matter how important of a bison he was.

Aang just smiled, though he seemed a bit awkward about it, too. He took his arm off of Toph and started down the hill. He was a bit wobbly, but he made it, slowly but surely, and Sokka and Suki approached the bottom on the hill to meet him. Toph slid down on a flat plane of earth.

When he reached the bottom, Aang bowed to Suki, very low, and he said, without straightening up, "Katara told me about what happened when you saved Appa. I feel horrible about it. If there's any way to make it up to you…"

"No," Suki interrupted and she placed a hand on his shoulder. He straightened up, and his eyes were clenched shut and brimming with tears. She seemed alarmed, and realizing her callousness, she said, "I mean, not 'no, you can't make it up to me'… I meant 'no, don't feel horrible about it' and 'no, you don't have to make it up to me'… oh, Aang."

Suki seemed to be the cork plug in the dam, and with that out of the way, everything just seemed to burst through. Aang took her hands and held them tight, and he said, choked, "It's my fault, and Ba Sing Se, and everything—"

Suki just smiled at him, awkwardly, sadly, with something like pity, and she held onto his hands carefully, squeezing them reassuringly. Aang was right on his knees, in front of her, and she sank down with him, and let go over his hands to put her arms around him.

"Hey," Suki said, "it's okay."

Katara knelt down, too, and put a hand on Aang's back.

"Yeah, Twinkletoes," Toph chipped in, squatting down with them and throwing her own arms around them. Katara did too, and after an instant, Sokka awkwardly leaned over the whole pile of teenagers and hugged them all from above. He wobbled, Toph let out a protest as his weight started on top of her, Suki let out a yelp, and Katara scrambled to get out of the way, but they were all pinned anyway.

Dog-piled but happy, Aang started to laugh, and as they all picked themselves up, he was wiping tears off his cheeks as he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Katara was crying too, Sokka noticed, the silly girl, she was hugging Aang so tight that he worried the Avatar's head would pop off.

They were all incredibly glad.



Sokka glanced at Katara with a funny look, and he said, feeling weird and overly concerned, "Why did you tell him as soon as he woke up? Big thing to dump on the kid so fast, Katara."

Katara didn't reply for a moment, she was busy rolling out her bed. Sokka reached over to give her a hand she didn't need, and she said, "Well, like you said, right? I can't protect him forever. I felt bad about keeping him in the dark… I figured, the sooner he understood what was going on, the better."

Her voice was funny: guilty but oddly confident.

Sokka looked up, and Katara's eyes were focused on smoothing out the corner of her blankets. After a second, she looked up, and he pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back, tightly, and he said, "I'm glad."

"So am I," she replied.



Suki was slowly working her way down his throat, from the juncture of his ear and his neck to his collarbone, and he could only, relax between her body and the trunk of the tree, and run a hand up and down her side slowly, through the fabric of her robe.

"Want to?" Sokka asked.

"Not tonight," Suki replied, "rather do it when we're not going to get caught, by weather or otherwise."

They were, after all, in the middle of the woods. That didn't exactly say comfortable to either of them, but, well, feelings were feelings. Sokka was okay with this. He shrugged, ran his fingers through her hair, and focused on staying reasonable.

"Besides," Suki said, lips breaking contact with his skin again, but just slightly. Her breath was still hot on his neck, and comfortable. "I'm happy just doing this. I don't really feel like doing it, anyway. I'd rather just spend time with you..." She broke off for a second to kiss him again, and then she finished, "... like this."

If Suki was happy, so was Sokka.

"You seem so much better these days," Sokka said, cheerfully. "Happier, or something like that. I guess being together changed things."

"I don't think that's it," Suki said, and she corrected herself with a contemplative little, "Well, about what changed things. I am happier."

"So what changed things?" Sokka asked.

"Talking."

"Makes sense."

"It had nothing to do with holding your hand or kissing you," Suki said, slow and relaxed. She drew herself up close to him, suddenly. Her head was on his chest, rising and falling with his breath, and Sokka's hand trailed along the contour of her hip. He didn't say anything. He let her finish: "You helped, but I had to heal myself. I had to come to terms with everything."

"Yeah?" Sokka trailed. He liked to think he had been a major influence.

"But if you, and Katara, and Toph... if none of you had supported me, I wouldn't have been able to come to terms with everything. So I have to thank you for that, Sokka. You held my head above the water until I could do it myself."

"So it wasn't weird that we...?" Sokka trailed, there, face going the slightest bit red. Suki laughed, switched him across the chest with her fingertips.

"Oh, no, it was, it definitely was. Maybe it was too big of a step. It just... shouldn't be a big deal, I guess," she replied. "I just don't feel like we should do it again. Just... wait a while, you know? I like just doing this. It's nice."

Sokka was okay with that. Suki was okay with that. Everything would be fine.

But it didn't stop the looks on Toph's face whenever they came back to the house after being out alone together, or how moody she was whenever the two of them goofed around in front of her.



"What was it like?" Katara asked, quietly. Aang was looking at the fire, intently, without blinking. The embers were low, the bits of wood glowing red-hot, and only the tiniest of flames still survived. The smoke curled in delicate wisps. Katara prodded him with, "You glowed, every night, you know. It was like you were trying to go into the Avatar state, or to the spirit world."

"I dreamed," Aang said, "but they weren't normal dreams. I was in the spirit world the whole time, that's how I knew how long it had been, they told me."

"They...?"

"All the past Avatars," Aang said, and his face lit up with a funny smile. "Avatar Roku, and Avatar Kyoshi... Avatar Kuruk, he was really funny, though he scared me at first! And Avatar Yangchen was brilliant... they told me everything, I didn't know whether to believe it or not..."

There was a slight pause, and Aang grinned outright and sort of laughed to himself, and then suddenly, this laughter died almost as suddenly as it came, and Katara's brilliant smile died with it. She leant her head closer, brushing her hair behind one ear, and she said, "What is it, Aang?"

He seemed alarmed. He asked, "Did the Fire Lord get killed?"

Katara seemed confused. She replied, "What?"

"Did the Fire Lord get killed by Azula?" Aang said, and he sped up, suddenly, "Yeah... I remember seeing it! Azula went into his room, killed him... Zuko's the Fire Lord now, I saw him get crowned... then they were going somewhere with the Fire nation navy..."

"What?" Katara said, in disbelief.

Aang was in a flurry, and he pushed himself to his feet. He said, turning to look at her, so alarmed, "Did any of that happen?"

He had raised his voice a little bit too much, and Toph let out a groan and rolled over. When she rolled right over Momo, Momo shrieked, and that was enough to rouse both Toph and Suki from sleep. Toph sat up, and Suki propped herself up on her elbows, lifting her head over Sokka's shoulder to see them.

"Ugh, what are you yelling about," Toph protested. Suki agreed, and she blearily wiped at her eyes.

"Did Azula kill her father?" Aang asked Toph, wide-eyed.

"How should I know?!" she shot back.

"Hey," Suki said, trying to be rational, but she still sounded sleepy. She said, "Sokka and I heard a rumour about the Fire Lord being dead the other week... but that was because of the flu, not an assassination..."

"But it was so... real..." Aang protested. He seemed hurried.

"I had a dream once that there were these magic boxes that took pictures of people, like, as clear as you can see another person. Like magic." Sokka grumbled, suddenly, "Doesn't make it real. Can everyone discuss this in the morning?" He stopped to yawn, and then finished, "I'm not awake enough for this type of talk."

Suki looked at Sokka, and he dragged the covers over his head. Suki shifted, and then she said, to Aang, "Have your dreams ever been right before?"

"It wasn't just a dream," Aang said, "it felt like it was real. But... well, I've had visions before, and they've all been right... how could it be wrong?"

"I think we should believe it," Katara said, seriously.

"Ugh, nighttime is for sleep people," Sokka grumbled.



Sokka's plea for sleep didn't last long. No one could really sleep after that, and by daybreak, when the fire was just glowing embers, they were up and talking already.

"The Earth kingdom just isn't safe anymore," Katara said, "There's a huge pilgrimage to the North Pole… I think we should go, too."

The five of them were seated in a circle in the middle of the room. There was no reply to Katara immediately. Sokka folded his arms, Suki's mouth pursed, and Aang let out an unsure "hmm". Toph scowled.

"No," Toph said, "I'm not going to some snow-filled place, I'll either lose my feet to frostbite or have to go blind, and I can't even see with snow and ice anyway. I refuse."

Katara hadn't thought of that. She said, seriously, "Toph, we might not have a choice."

"So say the Fire Lord's really dead, and Zuko's on the throne?" Aang asked. "Where are they going?"

"I could venture a guess," Sokka said, "we know they're headed to the North Pole to ATTACK it, so I don't see any reason for us to go to the Fire Nation."

"That cretin on the throne," Katara piped up, "Azula took Zuko home with her, I guess it was too much to hope that she locked him in a dungeon. The creep's back in his cushy bed, living out his dreams... ugh, he's probably being waited on hand and foot, probably patting Azula on the back for their hard work. Probably laughing about how he got us in the end! Ha ha. I'm not laughing."

Her voice was so bitter, so resigned, that there was an awkward moment where Katara was simply stared at, like a zoo curiosity, as a part of the 'Savage Women' exhibit. Sokka sort of leant back, raising his eyebrows, and Suki stopped resting her hand on her chin, and her expression softened. Aang was just staring at Katara wide-eyed.

"Um," Sokka said, "let's not get into that."

"I agree with Sokka," Aang said, after a moment. "We have to protect the capital, it's all we have left. Besides… they need me."

"Still not going," Toph said, "I'd be completely useless to you in the snow, and I'll be completely blind. I can't go."

Aang reached over and put a hand on Toph's, and he said, hopefully, "Well, we can't force you, but… how about for moral support? Or, well, we could probably make you a bag full of rocks, like how Katara has a pouch of water. Then you'd have something! And you could still metal-bend!"

There was a pause, and Toph said, "True. Maybe. Still doesn't solve the blindness problem."

There was another moment of silence, for the gravity of this all to sink in, and other than Momo's chattering, no one said anything. Sokka glanced at Suki, sidelong, and she looked at him with a smile.

"When are we leaving?" she said.

"We should probably leave as soon as possible… Appa's okay for flying, and we've got about a week and a half of distance to go. Azula, Zuko and their armies will be going by land, and even if they have a head start, we can probably beat them there if we go sooner," Aang said.

"Let's start packing, then," Katara said, and she pushed herself to her feet and opened all the cupboards. Sokka headed out into the yard to finish Appa's new saddle, and Suki went with him.



"I'm going to miss this place, in a weird way," Katara said, "it kind of became like home."

They were standing all in a line in front of the tiny place. Sokka glanced at Katara sidelong, and he said, "Really? It kind of looks like a home now… all thanks to me and my door-fixin', roof-patchin' skills."

Katara laughed, and she replied, "It does look like a home now…"

"Yup, I'm gonna miss this particular patch of darkness," Toph replied. "Goodbye, earthy little house."

They all laughed, in a good mood, and Aang smiled oddly, holding Momo in the crook of one arm. He scratched behind Momo's ears, and then said, still looking at Momo, "I've only known this place for a few days and I'm already going to miss it."

"Here's to hoping the next house isn't so… cozy," Suki said, delicately, and Sokka laughed and reached over, taking her under an arm. She awkwardly slipped out of his reach, and when he raised an eyebrow at her, she looked at his hand just as awkwardly, and he said, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, "Sorry. Had a moment, there."

And then she walked herself right into his arms, linking her elbow with his, and pressing them together, forearm-to-forearm. He smiled, relieved that it wasn't starting up again, and figured, well, there'd always be a ghost of the past. Only thing was, now Suki had conquered it and could ignore it, so it wouldn't always linger in plain sight.

He figured he had been right about before. A bit of love and a bunch of physical intimacy didn't put the problems to rest. It just made them, well, a lot sleepier.

"You calling this place too small, Suki?" he teased, and she laughed.

"Yeah," she said, "let's have more rooms in the next place we stay in."

"Who knows where that could be," Katara replied. "Before we get to the North Pole, I mean." She paused, and glanced at Toph. She said, "Decided whether you're coming or not, yet, Toph, or are we dropping you off anywhere particular? We don't have time to detour back to Gaoling, so…"

"I'll go with you," Toph replied. There was a pause, and she said, "The whole way, I mean. For moral support."

There was a brief moment of cheering and general Toph-hugging, and on Toph's part, a bit of resigned laughter. Aang, especially, seemed grateful, and he hugged her a moment longer than everyone else did.

"Thanks, Toph," he said.

"No problem, Twinkletoes, but this means you have to be my Seeing Eye Airbender when you're not off doing your Avatarly duties."

Aang laughed, and Katara said, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going, see how far we can get before dark."

So, with the last of their things stowed on Appa's back, they all climbed up into the new saddle, and Sokka hesitated before he settled in. At the last minute, he ran back to the house, and fell against the side of it with a dumb laugh, acting as though he were hugging it. He said, brightly, "Good luck finding owners as good as us, Hut! Thanks for everything!"

The rest of the party giggled, and Suki teased, "I'm sure we could see it again someday. Now get up here, you goofy goober."

So they headed off.



They spent most of their days flying, and they stopped shortly before dusk each night. They always packed up before dawn, and then hit skies again as the sun was rising. It was a system that took work, seeing as everyone but Aang and Appa had adjusted to a life of sleeping late, but it settled into their systems after a few days. They usually stopped for pit stops for bathrooms and a lunch, but some days they spent as little time as possible on land. They just wanted to get to the North Pole as fast as possible, and the endless hours crowded in the small saddle made for cranky travelers. They usually argued over who sat on Appa's head, as it was as solitary as one could be while on a flying bison, but it really didn't matter: most of their time was spent napping, or in moody, worried silence.

"Let's go find some food, then," Sokka yawned, as Appa landed, "We passed an apple orchard a couple minutes ago… let's go get some."

"Sounds good," Suki said, standing up and stepping one foot onto the edge of Appa's new saddle. She glanced at Sokka, who was practically falling asleep again, and she said, "Sleepyhead."

"Right," Sokka said, shaking his head, and he got up. Suki jumped down, landing on two feet, and then she straightened up. Sokka followed, though he landed quite clumsily, and he had to put out one hand to keep himself from face-planting forward.

"I'm coming, too," Toph said, sliding down off Appa's tail. She landed well, too, and she walked over.

"Alright," Sokka grinned, just happy to be on the ground.

"You guys go, then," Aang said, "Katara and I will get camp set up and all. Just make sure you get enough for Appa, all his stomachs are empty!"

"Man, that'll take forever," Sokka said, as he pulled a few burlap bags from the saddle. He tossed one to Suki, who shook it out, and draped another over Toph's head. She protested and pulled it off, and Sokka had to hold her head at arm's length to prevent her from pummeling him with her bare hands, though she still got him with the earth in the end.

So, nursing a bruised bicep and a goose-egg on his forehead, Sokka tramped off with Suki and Toph to go get dinner. It was only a few minutes walk, but the three of them shortened the time with banter, playful conversation, and arguing things as simple as "How many apples will fit in Sokka's stomach, and how many Sokkas would fit in Appa's stomach?"

The apples were ripe, and ready for picking, but no one had taken them. There was a farm at one end of the orchard, but it was empty, and even from a hundred yards they could see it had been abandoned. Animals loafed around, loose in the yard, and hippocows had stripped the trees of the lower-hanging fruits. There was not a single person around, and it seemed as if there hadn't been in some time. Most noticeably, the barn had been burned, and it was nothing but charred timbers and ash-blackened stone.

"Let's not go too near," Suki said.

"Why not?" Sokka shrugged, "It's not like we'll get shot for trespassing… let's go check it out, maybe there's something there."

"Nah, I agree with Suki," Toph replied, "it smells bad and we just need some grub."

"It looks like it could collapse at any minute," Suki argued. "Not to mention the fact that there could be Fire nation still around here. They didn't strip this place of the apples, and they need food, don't they?"

"Alright, alright," Sokka said, raising his hands in surrender, "I get it. Fine. Let's just get our yummy dinner and go, then." He paced over to the nearest tree and reached up to grab an apple, but the lowest ones were out of his reach by at least a foot. He could blame those damned animals eating the lower ones. "Can't reach!"

Suki was up a tree in seconds, literally, grabbing a low branch and walking up the side of the tree until she could get a foothold. Then she pulled up her weight, and she pushed herself to her feet, and then climbed up a few more branches. From where she was, she could easily pick the apples, and she dropped them down to the grass.

Sokka looked up, grinned, and said, sing-song, "I see Suki's underwear!"

He was clocked in the head with a hurled apple a second later, and with an "oof!" he flew right off his feet. As he pulled himself up, half-laughing and half-whining about the pain, he glanced up at Suki and said, "HEY, missy, I'm just stating a fact—"

He had to lift his arms to shield his face and duck his head again. Suki stuck her tongue out at him, and smiled. Sokka made a face back, and he said, "Don't make me come up there.

"And lose your great view?" Suki replied, "As if."

Sokka grinned, sheepishly, and Toph made a retching noise. Sokka glanced her way, and Toph said, "I'm so glad I'm blind."

"You're missing a great, great view, Toph, it's the type of thing men go to war for," Sokka informed her, grinning and collecting the apples Suki threw down into the burlap bags. Toph heaved a scowl. Suki stopped her apple mission to look down at Sokka, squinting through the fading light of day.

"Sokka, don't talk that way," she chided, "seriously, not in front of Toph. She's twelve, that's so inappropriate."

Sokka was flustered suddenly. He protested, "I was just kidding around!"

But his indignant reply was nothing like Toph's. Toph piped up, cattily, "I bet I know more about sex than you do, Suki."

Suki nearly fell out of the tree, she was so startled, and she quickly regained her footing and went back to picking. She dropped another apple, and another. She said, slowly, "Um, do I want to know?"

"I spent years hanging out with guys at the Earth Rumble, and other lei tai competitions," Toph said, with a smug look, "They talked about it all the time! And in front of me, too. So don't think you're all smarter than me and protecting me from big, bad Sokka's stupid UNDERWEAR jokes."

Suki replied, "Oh." She sounded vaguely skeptical.

Toph seemed to be reckless that evening. She folded her arms, and walked over to the nearest tree, and stomped her foot on the ground, hard. The tree shook violently, and a couple dozen apples fell. Sokka went to pick them up, and Suki glanced over from her own tree.

Toph continued on, "So don't treat me like a kid just because you're all older-and-wiser and junk. What do you think I am, sheltered? It's not like I don't know what you and Sokka do when you go out to 'collect firewood' in the evenings. I'm twelve, not four."

She definitely seemed angry. Suki said nothing, and neither did Sokka, and the two of them avoided looking at each other. Toph let out a bitter scowl as she completely uprooted one tree, sending it crashing over, all the apples tumbling to the ground or into reach.

"I'm not stupid," Toph said, angrily. There was a moment of silence, and Toph just stood there, staring straight ahead of her, but they could tell she was waiting for either of them to say something. Anything. Suki jumped down from her tree and walked towards them.

"Errr," Sokka trailed, finally, "this is awkward."

"If you simply _have_ to know, we don't have sex," Suki said, firmly, "and what we do in private is none of your business."

Toph seemed to wait, and then she said, slowly, "You don't?" She sounded surprised, as if she expected otherwise.

"No," Suki said. "We don't."

Sokka was as red as the apples as he shoved them into bags. Suki was standing with her arms folded, and Toph heaved a sigh. It was confusing, all of it, but the conversation ended itself there, and with three full bags of apples, they headed back to camp, and pretended the conversation had never happened.



They started meeting up with refugees by the end of the week. As they prepared to fly after lunch, a group of forty or so refugees trundled by. They had a large wooden cart pulled by a pair of ostrich-horses, and many people were packed into it. As they were coming into view, Aang and Katara jumped to their feet and ran to greet them. The leaders of the caravan went over to speak to them, and Suki went over after a moment, too, and Toph and Sokka rose to follow.

And then, a girl on the wagon called Sokka over with a bright, "Hey, Ponytail!"

He was close to reprimanding her for that kind of name, but she was kind of cute. When he got closer, he realized the girl wasn't just cute, she was adorable, with a sweet face and an optimistic smile. Looking at her, Sokka figured that even in the worst of moments, she could manage hope. He said, "Hey."

"I just wanted to ask if you knew the area," she asked, "we've got some people who are hard of breath, and I don't have enough herbs. Would you know where I could find some angelica plants? Or some arnica?"

"No, sorry," he apologized, "we're passing through, too, though I know what they look like."

"That's alright," she said. "I thought it was worth a try."

The girl smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. Those eyes were too friendly for mere acquaintances. He quickly said, "My name's Sokka. That's Suki, my girlfriend."

This was sort of stupid, because Suki was standing a good twenty feet away, in conversation with Aang, Katara and the leader. He had to point her out between the other two.

To his surprise, the girl's smile didn't even flicker. She said, "She's so pretty. It's nice to meet you, Sokka. My name is Song."

"Nice to meetcha. Headed for the Northern Water Tribe, I guess?" Sokka asked.

"No, actually," Song replied, softly, "I have relatives up north. Our village was ransacked by the Fire nation last week, there was no house left to stay in. Hopefully our relatives are still around. If not, I don't know if my mother can survive the North."

She was troubled. Sokka cringed, and he said, "I'm sorry about that. But things'll look up. See that kid over there?" He pointed at Aang. "Under that scruffy hair, there's a blue arrow. The Avatar. He's alive and kicking."

Song's eyes widened, and she looked over, and her smile brightened even further. She even flushed pink in the cheeks. She said, with much heart, "I'm so glad! Where did he go? We all thought he was dead after Ba Sing Se fell…"

"Yeah," Sokka said. "He fell into a coma. We took care of him. And now he's ready to win back the world."

"I know he can do it," Song replied. Her smile flickered, suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked.

"Oh," she said, and she smiled again. "I was just thinking about something. Don't mind me."

"Sokka," Suki called, "we're getting ready to leave."

Sokka glanced up at Song one last time, and he said, "Have a safe journey."

"You too," Song replied, and Sokka gave a brief wave and jogged back to Suki and the rest of them, finding it hard to keep the smile off his own face.

Yeah. Things would look up.



"Let's go swimming," Aang suggested. Katara followed his gaze to the lake, and she looked back at him.

"Are you sure? We could probably get another hour of flying in…"

Aang shook his head, and he said, "Appa's pretty beat. Let's just call it quits for the day. Besides… we need to have a bit of fun. We keep going like this, we're going to start hating each other up there."

Katara hesitated, and Sokka piped up, "Stop being such a worrywart. Aang's got a point."

"I'm not!" she protested, and as if to put across her point, she kicked off her boots. Sokka laughed, and so did Aang, and both stripped down to the waist. Sokka kicked off his boots and moved to undo the button of his fly.

"I'm game," Toph said, "as long as we stay in the shallow end."

"Don't worry," Sokka teased, and he stopped fiddling with his pants for a moment to clap Toph on the back. She didn't exactly see that coming, and she was nearly bowled right over. "Suki can save you if you step off into the deep, eh, Suki?"

Suki glanced at him, raised an eyebrow, and she smiled. There was no argument, no attempt at irritating Toph, and that was a good thing, because Toph scowled and folded her arms as it was. Suki rolled her eyes away, though she kept smiling.

"Come on, Toph," Sokka said, and he grabbed her around the waist and hoisted him over her shoulder. She flailed, but she didn't exactly stop him from doing it. "Let's gooooo swimmmmmming!"

"HEY!" Toph protested, "Put me down! He-ey! SOKKA! At least let me get my stupid clothes off first you dumb--"

He splashed right into the surf, up to his knees, and yelped when she caught him in the chest with one knee. Almost doubled over, he flipped her down and dropped her right into the water with a loud, "DOWN YA GO!" and a shriek of protest from her.

She surfaced immediately and spluttered, and he grabbed onto her arm and hoisted her up as she shouted and reached under the water to sling handfuls of muddy sand at him. He laughed, and let go of her, and ran back onto the grass as Toph yelled at him.

"JERK," Toph shouted, and Sokka kicked off his wet, muddy pants, still laughing.

"You asked for it!" he called back, and Toph climbed out of the lake with a really sour expression, and just as she stomped her foot to send a volley of rocks at him, he ran and took a crazy leap off the rather short bank. He landed hard, seeing as he couldn't jump farther than waist-deep.

"You--!" Toph snapped, and Sokka laughed, and laughed. The other three just watched them, not particularly concerned about how this was going, as they all knew it was for play, and even if Toph seriously injured Sokka, it wouldn't be anything Katara couldn't fix. And Toph, well, no one was really worried about Sokka injuring her.

"I missed this," Aang sighed, and chuckled. Katara was smiling oddly, too, and she glanced at Suki.

"Coming?"

"Of course," Suki smiled.

"Water fight!" Sokka roared. "Water fight, let's go!"

"Someday," Katara said, pinning her hair back, "you'll regret ever asking two Waterbenders to have a water-fight with you."

And so the battle began, Aang and Sokka versus the girls. By virtue of bending, Aang ended up handling the two younger girls, simultaneously using water, earth and air to fend off their attacks, and Sokka and Suki settled to a childish game of whoever could get the other more wet. In the end, Sokka emerged victorious, but not for long – Toph, having left Katara and Aang to their waterbending, joined in.

"No fair!" Sokka protested, as he was running away through the shallows, trying to avoid stepping on sharp things at the same time. Suki and Toph gave chase, pelting him with mudballs as they went, until the poor guy's back side was so covered in mud that one could hardly tell what colour his skin was.

"You know that in older times, they used to check fallen Kyoshi warriors' wounds to see how they'd fallen!" Suki called, as she pelted another mudball, chasing Sokka around a fallen log. "If it was on the back, they'd been attacked running away, the cowards, and it never happened!"

Sokka slowed to look down at his own chest, and he turned to ask "Are you implying something?!" when Toph caught him in the mouth with more mud. And it wasn't just a handful – it was a bent rush of it.

He spluttered on it, immediately, making a great show to whining and complaining about it, and Suki caught up first. She grabbed onto him from behind, putting him into a playful armlock, and when Toph caught up, she soaked him from head-to-toe in mud.

"Witches," Sokka said, spitting out mud. "Eugh eugh eugh eugh witches, the both of you, see if I ever feed you ever again eughhhhh!!"

Toph and Suki shared a laugh, and Suki lifted a hand to give Toph a high-five, when she realized that Toph couldn't see her. So she burst out laughing more, and Sokka saw the gesture, so he laughed too, and he grabbed Toph by the wrist and forced her to do the high-five. Toph, having been the subject of this sort of thing before, just laughed and did a second high-five on her own, almost missing Suki's hand.

The three just laughed, until Sokka got the advantage and took Toph hostage. This led to a rather amusing chase scene back down the beach, Suki tripping Sokka and taking Toph back along the way. They met up with Aang and Katara again shortly.

"Hey Suki," Sokka said, loudly, "what happened to the skunkbear that fell in the river?"

Suki glanced at him, paused, and thought about it for a second. She paused, laughed, and then pointed at him and dramatically replied, "It… stank to the bottom."

Sokka laughed like a madman, pulled her into an energetic hug, and he yelled, "YESSS. Exactly! See, NO ONE ELSE gets these jokes! THAT'S why I love you, baby!"

Katara was laughing and covering her mouth with her hand, and even Toph was snickering at this. Aang just laughed and made some comment about "Did Sokka hit the cactus juice again?"

Suki laughed, and she said, "You're crazy, Sokka, absolutely crazy, oh boy…"

"Yesssss!" Sokka said, and he picked her right up in both arms and spun her. Then, mid-step, he tripped over something underwater and sent them both crashing down into the water, which left both yelping instead of laughing.

But they laughed some more when they surfaced.

Overall, it was a pretty good evening.



They reached the snow faster than they anticipated. Toph was fitted with boots as soon as they had hit the snow line. She didn't enjoying it, but the moral support was there still. And as they got deeper and deeper into the arctic, Sokka felt his heart start to gnaw at him. It wasn't just the fact that the sun stopped setting, or that the chill had settled in his body.

He hadn't been back here since Princess Yue. It had been months since then, it was summer now… and he was going back.

He glanced down at Suki, who was sleeping with her head on his lap, her arms tucked up to her chest. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair, and then bitterly looked away, glad that the moon was going to be hidden from this tribe for at least a few more months. The moon was in the South, now.

Never had he appreciated the midnight sun more than he did right then, feeling too embarrassed to hold Suki so close under any moon.



Zuko found out, quite quickly, that he couldn't control anything as Fire Lord any better than he could as the banished prince. Already, as he boarded Azula's ship, he knew that it was as good as being led away in chains. It was a bitter, nasty thing.

Every order he gave seemed to be overridden by mysterious parties, and he didn't have to guess twice to know who it was. Azula had her claws dug in to the knuckles, and he knew her stranglehold wasn't going to ease until she died, or he did.

It was a game of endurance, now, and Zuko was being worn ragged.

"You should sleep," Mai said, quietly, whispered into his ear one night. "We won't be there for another week and a half, for now you need to sleep." She sounded almost exasperated, frustrated with herself and him.

Zuko didn't reply, or even move, he just kept staring at the ceiling. Even as she pushed over in bed to press closer to him, even as she pressed a kiss to his scarred cheek, even as she held onto his arm. It was comforting, but he was too stressed, even when one of her nipples grazed his forearm.

"She's going to kill me, isn't she," Zuko said, quietly, flatly.

There was no reply for a moment, and then Mai let go of him, rolled over, and buried herself in blankets on the other side of the bed. He didn't sleep at all that night, though he made a trip or two to the bathroom to throw up and come back to bed miserable. Never had he hated his life more.



As they got further north, they intended on picking up some extra supplies – heavier clothing, for example. But things were not going well for the Earth kingdom, and many things, including parkas, anoraks and other such winter-wear, were all hard to come by, especially when Earth kingdom people were gathering in the North as a mass exodus. The Fire nation had run them ragged, and had Aang not been there, Sokka knew they'd never have gotten suitable winter-wear. People saw the Avatar through. People managed to spare a few coats, and that saw Toph, Katara, and Aang clothed. Suki and Sokka settled for half a dozen fur blankets, and everyone spent the last few days of the voyage huddled together on Appa's back, under those thick furs. It was warm, but no way to live.

And the sights they passed were certainly terrifying – thousands, literally _thousands_ of Fire nation ships, gathered in the water, slowly chugging closer to the capital. As they got closer, the boats got thicker, more stationary, and Katara pointed out, terrified, that they were mostly parked, and not on the attack. Shockingly, tiny boats full of refugees weaved between the warships unharmed and left alone, heading towards the snow-beaches.

"That's so weird," Sokka remarked, and Suki wound her fingers tighter around Sokka's. He said, worried, "They're just… guarding the place. They're not even doing anything. They're letting people _in_ to the city."

"Why?" Suki asked.

"I don't know," Sokka said, stressed, "how would I know? What's why I'm asking!"

But his waspishness was nothing compared to the others', being fairly laid back by nature. Sokka cringed every time Katara opened her mouth to talk, Aang became moody and bitter, and Toph complained of the cold all the time.

"This is so scary," Suki said, wondering aloud for the nth time, "it defies all the logic in sieges… why would they waste time and resources waiting here?"

Sokka shook his head, leant his forehead against hers, and didn't say anything, but that was right when the city came into view, and the crash-boom of fire meeting ice hit their eardrums. They all snapped to attention and leant forward on Appa, and they looked down to a strange sight: Fire nation ships removing icebergs.

"What in the world do they think they're doing?" Aang asked, confused.

"I think I know," Katara replied, narrowing her eyes. "I think they're stripping the water of the North's best defense… ship-blockers."



When they landed on the beach, it became frighteningly obvious that there were problems heavier than the sky had initially suggested. Their position in the sky had obscured the Water tribe's desperate last defense from their view, but from the ground, they could see that a giant icy wall had been built around the bay, and that it was constantly being attacked and repaired.

And, the second problem was, Fire nation scouts on the outskirts of the city. Generally these scouts seemed to come in groups of fifty, every other day or so, to delay the repair work on the Great Ice Wall, and they had to be eliminated. They were in the middle of such an attack when the Avatar landed on his bison.

"We'll take care of this," Aang growled, angry already, drawing water from the snow and flinging it at the soldiers. Katara jumped down from Appa, and Toph stayed in the saddle. Suki leapt down, too, pulling out her fans and preparing for combat.

"Toph, get on Appa's head, and take the reins. He'll know what to do," Aang shouted, as they backed up the Water tribe warriors fighting the invasion. He then paused, angrily, and he snapped, "Sokka, run to the palace and tell them that Avatar Aang is back!"

Sokka got a dozen steps before he stopped to look back at Suki. It was her first fight since he had saved her, wasn't it, her first real combat? He wheeled around in the snow to look at her and caught sight of her just in time to see her step through the deep snow and catch a soldier across the jugular with her slim fan, slipping between the edge of his helmet and his chest. He went down like a sack of potatoes.

Sokka kept hesitating, but Suki turned and caught sight of _him_ and she shouted, "Sokka, what are you waiting for?"

There was a solider coming up behind her, and she turned and took his feet out from under him, ducking under a blast of fire. He didn't get back up, and she shouted, "SOKKA, I'm fine, GO!"

He snapped out of it, turned tail, and ran.



Zuko sat down to breakfast wearily. He could feel the exhausted drag on his face, he felt zapped of energy. He had probably caught only a handful of hours of sleep in the past four or five days. He was too worried to sleep.

And, there, sitting to the right of his chair, with a bright smile on her face, was Azula. Her wine-red lips curled up on one side in some hopelessly mocking way, and she had her chin rested on her folded hands. Matter-of-factly, she informed him, "I've poisoned your drink."

He looked at the glass helplessly, and he glanced at Mai and Ty Lee. They didn't say anything, though Mai certainly looked at Azula dead in the eyes with some sort of ennui. Zuko picked up the glass, and he said, "Why would you tell me that? Why wouldn't you just let me drink it and have your laughs, you horrible, horrible monster?"

Azula didn't skip a beat, and she replied, "Do you think I'm a liar?"

"Yes," he said.

"Then it's safe for you to drink," she replied, and Zuko stared at her.

"I don't have to drink this," he replied, "you're being stupid now, Azula. Why would I drink it now? It's just a glassful. It's not like it's made of pure gold, or the rarest drink in the world, or irreplaceable. It won't be a waste if I throw it on _you_."

"Someone's cranky," Azula replied.

"Get out of my sight," Zuko snapped.

"Gladly," she replied, "I have units to prepare, anyway."

She pushed herself to her feet, smirking all the while, and she walked by him with a wicked smile. Zuko looked at her, and looked at the drink, and then glanced at Mai and Ty Lee. Ty Lee rubbed at her temples, surprisingly stressed, and Mai heaved a sigh.

"And here I thought I'd join up with Azula for the entertainment," she said. "Murder plots, sex, lies, torture, political intrigue... I should have just gone to a Kabuki show and saved myself the personal strife."

No one replied to that, and Zuko was so angry he threw his drink at the floor. It splattered, the metal cup skittering across the iron flooring loudly. Still, no one said anything, but they all ate their breakfast anyway.



Sokka ran the field between the ice wall and the city wall faster than he ever had in his life. It took a great deal of energy to get through the fresh snowball, and he shouted shouting at the people on the wall: "The Avatar! The Avatar!"

His voice carried well on the cold air. That got them moving, and that got the wall opened for him long before he got even remotely close to the wall, and they shut it behind him rapidly. He stopped running, and there were already warriors waiting for him on the other side.

"The Avatar?" the leader of the team said, stunned, and Sokka doubled over and wheezed. He hadn't had this much of a workout in days, he hadn't even had time to warm-up! He felt dumb, and though he was steadily getting to be just as tall as these guys, he certainly felt dwarfed anyway, and he didn't want to look weak.

"Yeah," he panted, "the Avatar, on the beaches… he's fighting off a group of Fire nation soldiers… might wanna take care of that."

"I thought the Avatar was dead!?" the leader gasped, and his eyes widened and his mouth broke into a great smile, though it faded within seconds. Then, almost frustrated, he said, "Where has he been?!"

"The Spirit world," Sokka said, because it was easier. He settled on snapping at the leader anyway: "Who cares about that now? Go help him! I need to tell Chief Arnook."

"Very well," the leader said, and he and his warriors barreled by Sokka and out the reopened wall. Sokka heaved one last breath and broke out into a run, and when he got to the canals, he leapt in the nearest parked gondola and shoved it off the bank, walking along the bottom to the other end, looking for a paddle. The boat was already drifting off the icy dock when he realized that they didn't need paddles here, they had waterbending.

He swore, and then he just heard a girl say, "Need help?"

He looked up, and said, starting to freak out, "Er, yeah, find me a waterbender, I need to get to the palace as soon as possible, it's an emergency, message from the Avatar, blah blah--"

The girl didn't go get him a waterbender. Instead, she just paced the edge of the dock until she was nearest to the boat, and with a great pull of her arms backwards, the boat came flying towards her. Sokka was knocked back in the boat, landing with his knees on the seat and his butt on the bottom. Sokka wasn't exactly in the most intelligent of moods, instead opting for panic mode, and he said, "You're a boatbender?!"

She laughed and stepped in, neatly, and then with another push of her arms, they were off, barreling down the canal. Sokka climbed to sit, and then stood right up.

"Waterbender, actually," she said, "now sit down or you'll fall out."

"I thought they don't teach girls. What, did Katara actually have an impact on you guys?" he said, confused.

"You must be Sokka," she said, and then she cut right to the chase: "The Avatar?"

"He's alive," Sokka said, edgily. He never wanted to be able to bend more in his life, sitting there with ants in his pants, wanting to just get there. He had a message. He had an important message! He had to get there; he had to get there NOW. Sokka danced around in his seat childishly. "Look, how far is it to the palace?"

"An hour walking, half an hour running, fifteen minutes by boat," she said, "stop moving or you'll tip out. But the Avatar's alive?"

"Augh," Sokka whined, trying to settle and chewing on a fingernail for a second. He hoped Suki was doing okay. He _prayed_ Suki was doing okay. "Yeah, the Avatar's alive and he's kind of fighting to protect you right now so it'd be great if we could get to the Chief and tell him what's happening. Right now. Like, immediately-right-now."

"Working on it," the girl said, "don't nag me, I'm a beginner."

He resisted commenting on that harshly, and instead he said, "Is there someone with more skill who could do this?"

"It doesn't matter how much skill you have," the girl said, "there's only so fast you can push a boat in small canals like these before you tip the thing or flood it."

"Whatever," Sokka said, a bit louder than he intended, and he was freaking out. "Just drive the boat, woman!"

"Again, working on it," she said, and they veered so far to the right that the gondola dinged off the icy siding of the canal, and Sokka yelped.

"Watch out!" he said, with much more gusto than needed. Was Suki okay? Oh, he really, _really_ hoped she was okay without him. The worry had him in a stranglehold, and then, guiltily, he started with a "Sorry, beginner, I get it, I'm just freaked out okay, sorry."

The girl gave a funny sort of huffy laugh and managed to steer the boat back to the center. Sokka settled on worrying and panicking again, and then he head his name being called. For a second, it didn't register, because he was too busy imagining worst-case scenarios, but that quickly vanished and he wheeled around in his seat.

There was Hakoda, following alongside the boat on the docks, at a jog. He said Sokka's name again and Sokka said, "Woah, woah woah, hey, let me off." He didn't even wait for the girl to steer towards the side, he stood right up and had one foot on the edge, ready to jump. So jump he did, and he only just made it to the curb as she was pulling over.

"Sokka," Hakoda said, pulling him into a tight hug, and Sokka lingered for a second before throwing it off.

"Dad," he said, hurriedly. He was almost grinning ear-to-ear, suddenly, despite how grave the circumstances were. He said, "When did you get here?"

"Sokka," Hakoda said, with a smile that was more of a grimace. "Immediately after the fall of Ba Sing Se, we were attacked by enemy ships. We weren't in the condition to fight, so we fled and made for the North. We've been ferrying refugees since. Where in the world have you been?"

"It's a long story. What's going on here, anyway, with the Fire nation?"

"You've probably seen their fleets. The Fire nation sends in small battalions every couple of days. They leave by the evening. They've been doing this for a month," Hakoda said. He sounded older than Sokka remembered, even from weeks ago, like everything was fruitless.

"Dad, it'll be over soon," Sokka said, dismissively, "Look, I'm going to go back to the front and help them… can you go to Chief Arnook and tell him that the Avatar is alive, well, and here to help?"

Hakoda did a double take. "The Avatar is alive?"

Sokka was too glad to see his father to care how stupid and redundant this was getting. He said, "Yeah! He was just out cold, not dead. See, we went into hiding—"

"Sokka," Hakoda interrupted, "take the message yourself. I'll go get Katara."

"Alright," Sokka said, "meet you back here? And, um, there's an Earth kingdom girl named Suki, if you could keep her safe for me, but, um, don't let her know you're protecting her, okay? She doesn't like that sort of thing but--"

"Go, Sokka," Hakoda interrupted, and Sokka hesitated, grinned, and dashed back towards the waiting gondola.

Sokka didn't think he had ever seen his father run faster in his life, than he did to go help Katara in that battle. Really, it made Sokka very happy.



When Sokka returned to the front, after the message had been delivered, there was his father, standing there with Katara, Aang, Toph and Suki. Well, Katara wasn't standing – she was knelt over a water tribesman, and she was healing his arm from some injury. As Sokka jogged through the snow towards them, Suki looked up and smiled at him, and so did Hakoda. It took all his self-control not to leap on Suki and badger her with questions about how she had held up.

"Katara's introduced me to your girlfriend," Hakoda said, "Quite the capable girl. I came up just as she was taking out a Fire nation soldier twice her size, with one hand. And to think I was going to step in and defend her."

Sokka flushed, furiously, and he said, "That's nothing, she can take out guys four times her size." He said it playfully, walking right up to her and bopping her on the rear with his knee. This gesture seemed to be more out of embarrassment than anything. "It's pretty intense."

"I don't doubt it," Hakoda said.

"I'm working on guys _five_ times my size," Suki said, and quite boldly, she jumped at Sokka and gave him a not-so-playful sock in the arm.

Hakoda looked down at them with a smile.

"How old are you, Suki?" Hakoda asked. She blinked, once, as if surprised by the question, and gave Sokka a glance over her shoulder. He looked just as blank, though he snapped out of that relatively quickly.

"I turned seventeen in the spring," she replied, after a moment, and Sokka was looking at Hakoda suspiciously. Hakoda laughed, suddenly.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Sokka, you take your time. I was just curious," Hakoda said, smiling, and gave Suki a polite bow. He told her, grinning, "Last time I spent significant amounts of time with my son, he probably only knew one or two girls his age, and he thought they were 'icky'."

"Dad!" Sokka complained.

"First time I met your son, he thought women couldn't be warriors," Suki said, with a smug little look. Sokka was tempted to tackle her into a snowbank for even bringing that up but he resisted, because he was feeling awkward was it was without horsing around with her in front of his dad. His girlfriend and his father were chatting like old friends, teasing him. Worse yet, they were going to start exchanging anecdotes right in front of him. It was embarrassing.

"Really? I'm sure he's learnt better now, though," Hakoda smiled. "He underestimated everything as a boy. Once, he saw a reinwhale and insisted on catching it, claiming it was big enough to feed three dozen men. After dogging it for eight hours, in and out of the water, after falling in _twice_ and getting his knee split open, he got it... only to discover it was barely big enough to feed six."

Suki laughed.

"_Dad_," Sokka groaned.

Hakoda clapped Sokka on the back, chuckled to himself again, and Sokka let out a frustrated sort of noise, flushed red in the cheeks. When Suki pointed that out, smiling between Hakoda and Sokka brightly, Sokka insisted it was just the cold.



"I had almost forgotten how cold it is here," the man chuckled, and he heaved a great breath. The weather was taking a toll on his energy, but he certainly wasn't beat yet, no matter how foggy his heavy breath was on the air. He was wrapped in many, many brown and black clothes, and his voice was muffled by the scarf wound around his mouth. It obscured his face so that only his eyes could be seen.

His companion was faring a bit better, and even if she seemed exhausted, there was a weary sort of hope in her gold eyes. She was bundled in the front of the sled and staring straight ahead of her, as if she were expecting the Northern citadel to be beyond the nearest snowdrift. The old man, on the other hand, was wearily watching her, with some sort of concerned fondness.

"How much farther?" she asked, and even if her own mouth was hidden behind a scarf, he could tell she put on a smile when he looked down at her.

He shifted his weight on the back trails of the sled, and he glanced up at the horizon, over the backs of the six polar dogs pulling them. Over the long, flat landscape of the snow, he could nothing, but he knew there was a sharp drop there, and in that drop lay the citadel. It had taken weeks to boat around to the back of the arctic, and he knew they never would have been able to get into the city from the front, with the Fire nation blocking the icy passages.

"Two hours, at best, Princess," he decided.

There was no reply, and the woman only tightened the fold of the heavy blankets around her, to trap in more warmth. Her hands were balled together tightly, clutching a precious package. For many minutes, they travelled in silence, and then the woman spoke, in a resigned, sad tone.

"I wonder if he'd recognize me, if I saw him."

The man didn't reply for a second, and then he replied, "Why wouldn't he? You're his mother. And besides, it wasn't as if he was a baby. Even a toddler would know his mother. Why, I believe he could pick you from a crowd while _blindfolded_."

She didn't seem to believe it. She replied, "Even with these scars?"

She touched one gloved hand to her cheek. Even with such bulky and cheap gloves, her fingers seemed delicate and fragile. The brown leather ghosted over the scars there, and she let out a resigned sigh. The man brought the sled to a halt, and she looked up at him as he stepped around the handles and knelt next to her, in the snow. His beard was coated in flurries.

"Your Highness," he said, "what you had to do was unfortunate. But I truly believe that this will amount to the best, even if Zuko has betrayed us."

He took her hands in his, closed his great, bear-sized hands over hers. He smiled, and she smiled back, faintly, and he said, "I don't know whether we can save Zuko from his puppeteer, but we will try. I truly believed that he had found the right way in the world back in Ba Sing Se, and I was wrong. But as long as you ask it from me, I will try my hardest to save him; I could never deny him his life, no matter how many bad choices he makes."

The woman seemed comfortable with asking it of him. She said, "We must save Zuko... but could we save Azula, too?"

"After all she's done," the man said, and he actually heaved an uncharacteristic sigh of sadness, and regret. "You would still save her. Motherhood..."

"She's my daughter, no matter how wicked she is," she said, almost defensively, and Iroh shook his head sadly.

"No, Princess -- she is my brother's daughter. There may be hope for a peaceful ending to this, for her to leave this war alive, but I'm afraid there could never be any redemption for her. Zuko, though... he hasn't been raised drinking Ozai's poison."

There was a moment of silence, nothing but the wind and the baying of some of the polardogs, and Princess Ursa looked at Iroh with dry eyes. There was little capacity for crying, in this barren snowy wasteland. It was far too cold, too windy.

"Poor child," she replied, bittersweetly.

"If I could have saved her, I would have, long ago," Iroh said, as he straightened up and trumped back to the back of the sled. Stepping up on the rails again, he remarked, "I resent that I should ever have to choose one child's life over another, or that I should ever have to do such a thing."

Ursa was quiet. She was so sick and so weakened when he found her in refuge, let alone now, in the harsh arctic snows. Iroh regretted bringing her, no matter how much she had insisted, how much she had begged. But if he hadn't allowed her to come, she would have died alone.

"I will regret taking her down for the rest of my life, but I will have done it to save thousands."

"You sound as if you can," she said, as he whipped the dogs into motion once more. She swallowed her dry breath, and said, "If I hadn't believed her..."

"If you hadn't believed her, she would have been killed then," Iroh said, and after a pause, he said, "But who can say how things would have been? The future is a funny thing. We know it's coming, we can guess what will happen, but no one can claim to know that things would have been better if my brother had killed her."

Ursa was quiet once more, and then she said, "Saving Zuko is the only thing I can think of from now on. I must protect my baby, my child. I've left him to you for so long, when I should have gone to you the moment he was banished."

Iroh was silent. They both knew there were apologies to be made, but that could wait until they were out of the cold. But, as they went on, battling the arctic wind, Iroh knew Ursa would barely survive the trip to the North.



When they all found their way to the palace, an hour later, Chief Arnook was deep in discussion with the rest of the tribe's elders, and although Aang and Katara were raring to go speak with him, they weren't allowed in until afterwards, Avatar or not. Instead, Hakoda brought them through the winding icy halls to one of the side wings, where they all settled down to wait. Hakoda was invited in on more than one occasion, but he politely declined each time. He seemed content to stay with his children.

People came and went into the room, and the entire place never seemed to stop bustling. Earth kingdom and Water tribe people passed each other in the halls as if it were normal for there to be mingling like this, the Earth kingdom people usually clad in blue coats over their brown and green pants. They seemed so pale, next to the darker-skinned natives, but they also seemed a bit blue, at times. Suki looked similar, the red make-up around her eyes making her otherwise unpainted face seem pale enough to be white anyway.

No one looked familiar, until one face popped into the hall.

"Hey, Boatbender," Sokka called. "Thanks for the lift, earlier."

"Sokka," the girl replied, brightly, and Suki's head turned faster than Sokka had ever seen in his life. He was suddenly ultra apprehensive, and he just smiled like an idiot. The girl asked, "Everything going okay?"

"Yeah, I think everything will be great now, er," Sokka said, pausing for her name.

"Hena," she replied.

"Hena," he repeated. "Thanks."

"Nice to meet you," Suki said, and Sokka could of laughed at how she was suddenly so concerned, but the curtain between the rooms suddenly brushed aside. They all looked up expectantly.

And there was Chief Arnook himself, looking even more exhausted than Hakoda did. The weathered lines of his face seemed even more creased than usual, deep and heavy with sorrow. Hakoda's resilience seemed tenfold, compared to Arnook, and despite only a few years between them, Arnook seemed older by decades.

"You could have come in, Hakoda," Arnook said. His voice seemed gruffer than usual. "I would have assumed you'd skipped out on the meeting if I didn't know your children were here."

"Ah," Hakoda said, smilingly, but his tone wasn't so warm. "Why would I join in just to disagree with you? I'd much rather spend time with my children."

"I'm glad you're enjoying your luxuries, but we don't have time," Arnook said, stiffly. "This place is starving, war is imminent, and the entire world depends on the Water tribe's survival."

Sokka was a bit offended by how Chief Arnook was speaking to his father, but Hakoda replied before Sokka could even make a face. Hakoda said, calmly, "Arnook, the tribe will survive this. The Avatar is here now and we'll see what can be done."

"Can he create food? Oil? Supplies? Can he put our culture back on its feet?" Arnook replied. There was something about the way he gestured at Katara, at Suki, at Toph and at Hena that struck a nerve in almost all parties, and Katara snapped.

"Don't start with a _the-Avatar-wasn't-there_ campaign," she snapped, "It's not Aang's fault. It's not anybody's fault but the _Fire nation's, _don't you dare blame him! And if you have a problem with female benders being here you can just sho––"

"Katara," Hakoda cut her off.

Arnook looked startled, and Hakoda put a hand on Katara's shoulder. Katara stopped there, breathing heavily, and Aang looked away. Sokka couldn't even see Aang's reaction, behind Katara.

"Katara," Hakoda said, a bit softer, "Let's let the Avatar speak to Chief Arnook in private. We'll all go find a place for you to stay." He paused to look at Hena, who had a grimace on her face, and then back to Katara. "I'm sure this girl can find us a place."

Hena looked up as Hakoda caught her attention, and she nodded.

"Dad," Katara said, bitterly.

"Go, Katara," Aang said. The guilt was apparent on his voice, and he stepped around her and Hakoda to stand in front of Arnook. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Aang," Katara said, voice softening, though she kept her shoulders tense.

Aang smiled, though it was forced. He said, "I'll be fine! Go."

Hakoda steered Katara towards Hena, and he gave Sokka, Suki and Toph a nudge, too. On a second thought, he offered Toph his arm, and Toph took it. She was so short he almost had to lean to the side.

"Hakoda," Arnook said, after him, "will you be joining us?"

"In a moment," Hakoda said, "I'll just be a moment, go on."

Arnook and Aang disappeared into the room. Hakoda cast the doorway a furtive glance and then he said, looking at Katara, "He's not in a good way right now. He lost his only child months ago and his wife died last week. He literally has the responsibility of the whole free world on his shoulders, and because of it, his tribe's culture is shifting rapidly to include female benders. Don't hold it against him, Katara."

"Dad," Katara started, vehemently, and Hakoda shook his head.

"He'll apologize later," Hakoda said, "he always does. But when we've won the war, you'll see. He'll warm up a bit. Well..." Hakoda paused and managed a laugh. "As warm as these Northerners get, anyway."

Sokka smiled, and Katara managed to twist up the corners of her mouth, though she tried not to.

"These old guys really don't change, Dad," Katara argued.

"Sure they do," Hakoda replied. "This is a war, everyone adapts in some way."

Katara was silent for a moment, and she paused, as if she was realizing how surreal the moment was. Sokka felt it was strange and alien too -- his sister and his father hadn't talked for years, not like this. The boat ride to the palace had been quiet and moody, awkward, even.

"Aang was so hurt," Katara said, sadly.

"I know," Hakoda said, "I'll go join them. You lot get settled in."

So off Hena took them, leading them through the halls for many minutes, until they got into a section with many rooms. It was busy, with people streaming about in packs.

"We don't have much room, so all of you'll have to share with some of us," Hena said, dragging aside the heavy drapes over a doorway for them to pass. Much like the rest of the fort, the outer walls were constructed with a large patch of thick ice, so clear one could almost see through it. It allowed light through, at any rate, though it was distorted and not terribly bright. "There are already four boys and I staying in here, but there should be room for you five..."

"It's fine," Sokka said, with a grin at her. She smiled, and Suki and Katara passed into the room, holding onto Toph's arm and leading her along. Sokka held back the curtain for Hena to pass through.

"Not even a spare room for the Avatar," she said, sadly.

"He'd rather be with his friends, anyway," Katara said, cheerily. "Toph, you can sit down here!"

Toph did so, and Katara flopped down on the pile of fur blankets next to her. The stove in the middle wasn't lit. When Suki shivered and rolled her shoulders, Hena said, "You can light the stove during the night, if you need to... just be mindful of the coal..."

"Yeah," Sokka said. It seemed a far cry from the abundant hospitality they had experienced six months before, but it was understandable. He asked, "No offense or anything, but what's a girl doing in a room with four guys?"

Suki looked annoyed at this question, but Sokka flashed her an apologetic smile, and Hena laughed. She said, "Well, I'm a waterbending student, now, and my boyfriend's staying here, so I just joined them..."

"Why are they suddenly letting girls bend, here?" Katara said, suspiciously, and Hena nodded. Katara seemed beside hersel. She launched off into a barrage of questions that completely shut Sokka out of the conversation, asking about the thoroughness of the class, if they were learning all the tricks, and more. Sokka chuckled and plopped down next to Suki on the furs, stretching out beside her.

"It's freezing," Suki said, "and I thought Kyoshi winters were bad, this is just miserable."

Sokka laughed, and he grabbed one of the blankets and threw it over her head. She fumbled with it, and he pulled it down a bit, so her head popped back out, hair mussed. Sokka said to her, "Whine, whine, whine."

"Can't hear you," Suki replied, "too busy whining about the cold. Did I mention it's cold? Because it's _really_ cold here."

"You've been saying that since we got past the northern peninsulas," Sokka reminded her. "We need to get you a real coat, and stat."

"No kidding," Suki replied. Sokka heaved himself to his feet, and he offered a hand to her to pull her up. She didn't take it, instead holding the furs closer, and when Sokka laughed at her, she dropped them and let him pull her up. She said, more teasing than anything, "Just when I was getting warm, too, you idiot, you'd better keep me warm on the way."

"Keep you warm with what?" Sokka asked, still laughing.

"Stuff me down your shirt or something," Suki offered. Sokka laughed even harder.

"Stuff you down my shirt? Alright, Suki, hop right in!" he said, pulling his shirt up and gesturing under it. She laughed and pushed his arms back down, and she linked her arm with his.

"Let's just go get us new coats, you goofball," Suki said.

So with a brief "bye" to his sister, the girl, and Aang and Toph, the two headed out. It was a place full of business and madness, with people bustling down the halls rapidly. Sokka still hadn't seen his father since they were on the bea, and he was eager to, but that could wait until Suki wasn't freezing. Not that finding a coat was an easy task: with so many desperate newcomers to the city, extra coats were surprisingly hard to find.

In one of the larger halls, Sokka encountered Chief Arnook again. Sokka didn't want to know why he was roaming the halls listlessly, but Arnook took one look at Suki, who was shivering and holding onto Sokka's arm, and he glanced back at Sokka with a disapproving, "Where is this girl's coat? And yours, for that matter."

"Looking for one," Sokka replied, "short supply, ha ha."

"Ah," Chief Arnook said, "your father would certainly dispute me if he knew you were unable to get your friend a coat. Come with me. I know where we can find one for the girl, and then we can get one from the armory for you."

Suki smiled at him, and Sokka did too. But as Chief Arnook led them right past the halls he expected them to go down, and up the icy stairs to the biggest of rooms, his smile faded. He knew, quite quickly, where they were headed, and it took all his strength not to run in the opposite direction. They were headed straight for Yue's room, and when they came to the doors, Chief Arnook pushed them open, and he gestured inside.

"Go on, take one from the wardrobe," he said, and he smiled, sadly. Suki went right on in, seemingly oblivious, and Sokka was dragged behind her. He almost braced himself, almost held her back, but she had taken him before he could.

"I have to get back to the other elders," Chief Arnook said, "just make sure you close the door when you leave, Sokka."

"Right," Sokka said, numbly, his throat constricted. Chief Arnook disappeared around the corner, and Sokka looked around the room with wide eyes. The atmosphere had changed since he had been here last -- the one time he had been in here with Yue herself, it had somehow seemed so much cheerier.

Now it was just an ice-cold room, with a bedframe made of elaborately carved ice. The furs were gone, presumably serving other people now. The stands where her make-up had lain were emptied, presumably to give them to the living. Nothing was ever wasted, in the Water tribe, North or South. Only a single thing of Yue's had been left behind.

There was a single coat in the wardrobe, a beautiful one with ceremonial beading, falling to knee-length. Sokka's breath hitched when he saw it. He'd never seen it on Yue, and that relaxed him a bit. Still, when Suki unfolded it and held it up, Sokka couldn't control the sadness on his face. When she moved to pull it on, he closed his eyes tightly, and she stopped. He had hoped that she wouldn't put it together.

"This was Princess Yue's, wasn't it?" Suki asked, and Sokka hesitated. After a moment, he opened his eyes, and she was staring at him. She didn't look skeptical, or crude, or teasing. She looked downright sensitive, and he realized he had his hands balled up. He relaxed.

"It doesn't matter. Just put it on," he said, "you need a coat."

"Sokka," she said, concerned.

"Put it on," Sokka said, forcing himself to look at her in the eyes. His heart was pounding in his chest. "Do it, just do it."

Suki hesitated still, but she did it. She pulled it on, she slipped her arms into the sleeves, and Sokka took a moment to swallow the knot in his throat and untangle his nerves. Only then did he look at her, and he still had to blink rapidly to keep himself from getting stupidly emotional about it.

"Sokka," she said, softly, and he kept his eyes above her neck at all times. He didn't want to look at Yue's coat, or at Yue's furs, or at anything of Yue's. He didn't want to mix the two girls up, not now or ever. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, and he wiped at his face with his gloves, and Suki pulled him into a hug. He gripped her tightly, burying his face against the furs of her collar, and then after a moment, he pulled away, having pulled himself together.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," he said, with a determined smile that perhaps seemed like more of a grimace. "Yeah. Let's go to the armory, then."



"The Fire nation's been pounding away at the outer wall for weeks," Hakoda said, drawing a line with his finger across the map, tracing the shape of it. "The ice wall was built as a precaution over the weeks between the fall of Ba Sing Se and the start of the siege. So far, with extreme repairs on a constant basis, it's surviving, but if they start a full onslaught, we may not have the numbers to hold it. The ice-spikes are all but gone from the water..."

"So what should we do, then, Hakoda? We can't just wait for the wall to break and drag us into the heat of battle," Chief Arnook said, seriously, and Sokka snickered behind his hand at the pun. Hakoda did, too, though his was so well masked that no one noticed but Katara, who gave both her father and her brother the iciest glare she could manage.

Suki stood up, slowly, and she leaned over the map. She lifted her arms as if to gesture on the map herself, but before she did, she asked, "May I?"

Arnook and Hakoda glanced at her. Arnook nodded.

Suki said, "There's no point, strategically, in a besieging army assaulting a wall. If they really cared about bringing the city down, they would be blocking off all entrances and exits to the city." She pointed them out, one by one, specifically where the five of them had entered on Appa. "They would wait for everyone to starve to death. If they really cared about this, they would be patient, and not waste resources and lives trying to bring down the wall -- particularly because they haven't blocked off all access. They're actually allowing people to get into the city..."

She trailed off, suddenly.

Hakoda and Arnook glanced between themselves again, and Arnook said, almost impatiently, "We've realized that since they started the siege, but it doesn't explain _why_ they would invest so much energy in something they don't intend on doing."

Sokka sat bolt up in his seat, suddenly, and he said, "Because they're actually waiting for Azula. Until then, they're just wearing you down."

"Pardon?" Hakoda pressed, and all in the room turned to Sokka. He was looking at Suki, and he reached over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Tell them," Sokka said, "Suki, tell them what Azula said."

Suki looked at Sokka almost warningly, but she explained to all present, "I spent weeks in Azula's captivity. I only saw her over a stretch of what was probably two weeks, but we talked a lot. She explained, at one point, how she wanted to be the one to crush all the world. Seeing as this is the last free land... I'd bet anything she's moving here. "

"Azula herself wants to destroy the Northern Water tribe," Arnook said, solemnly.

"Azula could be here," Aang said, "we just don't know it because there are so many ships, and they go so far… how do we know that she isn't amongst them? I bet half the fleet leaving is supposed to be a diversion."

Arnook shook his head, and sighed. "We have no communication with them, no leads, no negotiations… it could be a diversion, a trap, it could be anything. Perhaps they're replacing the original ships with a new shift."

"They aren't," Sokka said, still poring over the map. He pointed out many ships, and he said, "These ones were here when Suki and I noted them all. It seems that the ones leaving are all towards the back anyway, or are else picked at random from the crowds."

Hakoda leant back in his seat, and then he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He seemed to have a huge headache, and no one blamed him. He said, "So we can only assume."

"I think it's a diversion," Katara said, "I wouldn't expect Azula to just march in and kill. She's… she doesn't fight like that. She finds a back way in; she finds a weak spot and exploits it. When I fought her at the end of spring, halfway through the battle, I realized she attacks experimentally, rather than just trying to go for the kill immediately. She tries different things until she finds something you have trouble defending yourself against, and then ups that, makes it even harder."

Aang paused, and then said, "And she's not shy about attacking you when you're off-guard."

Hakoda leant forward again, and nudged Sokka out of his way. Sokka shifted, but not quite enough, so Hakoda said, "Let me see the map for a second, Sokka." Sokka moved clear out of his father's path.

After a second of watching, Hakoda said, "She wouldn't dare go in from behind, would she?"

"She would," Suki said, firmly, "she would."

"Even if she tries, I don't think she'd be able to do it," Arnook said, "To avoid our outposts and avoid tipping us off, she'd have to sail to the other side of the North Pole and enter on foot. No one goes onto the tundra for more than a day or two and survives, especially without a pack animal like a yak. There are constant blizzards; it's the coldest place in the world. They could never cross it without losing the vast majority of their army."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Suki said, and Sokka could tell she was trying to be polite, but the frustration was rising in her voice. "She'll destroy the outposts, she won't care if you know she's coming. Azula is never threatened, not by anything. I know Azula personally; I know what she'd do. Don't take stupid risks – we need to defend all the sides of the city, we need to defend the skies above it, and everything underneath."

Arnook frowned, but it wasn't out of contempt for Suki's admonishments, or the implications that the city wasn't doing well under his guidance. It was the build-up of everything, the obligation they had to all the people of the world, the lack of soldiers versus the greatest empire in the world. It was the shortage of weapons; it was all the earthbenders who couldn't help fight because they didn't have their element available. Things were bad, and their tribe was already weakened from the siege six months earlier.

Arnook put his hands over his face and took a deep breath, as if he were holding back emotions. Not even the chief of a great nation could hold back his emotions, at the face of inevitable defeat.

"We need a miracle," he said.

Aang looked away, guiltily, and Sokka stood up. He said, boldly, "Hey, Dad."

"Yes, Sokka?" Hakoda replied.

"You always taught me growing up that it would be the strength of everyday men that would end the war, not an Avatar, or benders," Sokka said, "why should that be any different now? Let's do it. Let's go down fighting, to the last man."

"I hadn't forgotten, but this is suicide," Hakoda said, slowly. Arnook sighed, and Hakoda said, "This is the fate of the free world, and we don't have a choice but to fight to the last man. That never left the table, as an option."

"Then let's do it," Sokka said, firmly.

"That's crazy," Katara protested, "We can win this! If you don't think we're going to win, why wouldn't we just turn ourselves over and join them, instead of letting people die fighting? We can win this!"

"We can, but we won't," Arnook said, "Don't believe my remarks to be naïve, or those of a man who assumes young girls have never seen battle, or struggles against the enemy, or impossible odds. I know you've bested them before. But I have known battle as a warrior since I was younger than you are now, and I know when we will lose."

"But this IS suicide," Katara said.

"No one's denying that," Sokka said.

"SOKKA," Katara intoned, "whose side are you on, anyway?! We have to beat them, we have to, and we're GOING to."

There was a moment of stubborn silence, and Katara looked at her father, she looked at Arnook. She looked at Toph, who didn't react, she looked at Sokka, who folded his arms and looked away. When her eyes fell on Aang, he looked away and sighed. Last of all was Suki, who met her eyes boldly, and replied, "I say we do this the Kyoshi way."

"Do you have a plan?" Katara asked.

"Not yet," Suki said, "but we will soon. Right now, we have to find the Fire nation's weakest point and exploit it, just like Azula's trying to do to us."

"Do you know where this weakest point is?" Hakoda asked, and Suki turned and looked at him, and, surprisingly, a smile blossomed on her face.

"Azula herself," she said.

"Azula's going to be heavily guarded, surrounded by all the strongest fire benders. She may command them, but she's not going to be on the front lines, where we can get her," Arnook frowned, "How is she the weakest point?"

"Because she wants to kill me, personally," Suki said, with that big smile. Sokka's stomach twisted, and he had a violent reaction, sitting bolt upright.

"Suki, NO," he said, with much more gusto than he intended, and she turned to look at him.

"Got a better idea?" she said.

He stared at her in a mix of horror, and when he could only stammer and protest and make excuses, she turned to Arnook, and she said, "Get a messenger out there and tell them to tell Azula that I'm waiting for her, personally. THEN we'll negotiate one-on-one battle terms. I'll kill her, I know I'm ready."

"Azula's not going to fall for that," Sokka argued.

"She will," Suki said, "I know she will."

Arnook had nodded to the order, but now he said, "How are you so sure?"

"Because I know things about her that she's never told anyone else in her entire life," Suki said, "trust me, she'll kill me, and she believes she can do it. I'm ready for her. If we can pull her from the crowd, I can kill her, and we can turn everything around."

"This is crazy," Hakoda said, "but it's our only shot so far."

"No," Sokka protested, and Katara swallowed her breath. Sokka felt like a hand was constricting around his throat. "No way you guys are agreeing to this crazy plan, it doesn't make sense, it's not going to work. I can't believe I'm hearing this."

Suki looked at him, and she said, "I'm sorry, Sokka, but it might be our only way."

"It isn't," he snapped, and Suki squared her jaw. Sokka snapped, again, "This plan is stupid. There _has_ to be another way."

"I wish there was, but there isn't," Suki shot back, and Sokka ignored her. He stood up, turned on his heel, and stormed off, whipping the curtains on the doorway out of his way and making a right turn. He stormed right to the end of the hall, not looking back to see if anyone followed, and he kept going until he found Yue's room. There, angrily, he fell against the wall, and slid down the length of it, until he was sitting at its foot.

There, furious and upset and angry and altogether just miserable, Sokka pressed his gloved palms against his eyelids and tried to keep himself from exploding. He was angry, he was furious; he just couldn't accept this nonsense.



And when he pulled himself together and returned to the room fifteen minutes later, everyone was waiting for him except for Suki, who had disappeared. Katara and his father didn't make eye contact with him, Aang gave an awkward smile, and Toph elbowed him and whispered, "Maybe Azula won't buy it."

Sokka would have prayed to every spirit he knew for Azula to refuse them, but guiltily, even he had to admit that if she didn't, the entire free world would turn to ash.




	10. Emin's Sentiment, part two

This chapter was the most difficult thing to write. Ever. Many hours were spent mulling it over, re-writing, editing, adding in scenes, taking them out, discussing the content with close friends. Thank you, everyone, who reads it.

**CHAPTER TEN: EMIN'S SENTIMENT, PART TWO**



When he went to bed that night, he found Suki already there, and with great reluctance, he pulled off his parka and bedded down next to her. She kept her back to him, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be grateful or angry.

"I'm not mad at you," he whispered, dragging the furs up around him and wiggling around until he was comfortable. Suki didn't reply, so he said it again, a bit louder.

"And I'm not going to die," Suki replied.

"This is never going to work," Sokka said, quietly, "this is never, ever, going to work, we are going to get killed and we are too young to die like this, okay?"

"We?" she said, sitting up a bit so that she could crane her neck to look at him.

"Yeah," he said, firmly, rather irked that she would question it. "And don't you dare—"

"_We_ are not going to die, then," Suki said, "but Azula is."

Her voice sounded funny. Sokka got the immediate, distinct impression that she was saying it just to console him, or something along those lines; Suki was agreeing but her heart didn't seem to be in it. The sunlight, still lingering overnight, let nothing in her expression hide.

Sokka didn't know how to reply to that other than to sit up, himself, reach over and grab her around the middle, and haul her closer to him. She hesitated at first, casting a glance at the sleeping forms around them, but then she moved with him, burying her face against his neck and bringing one leg up to wrap around his hip. She shivered.

They were sharing this room with a lot of others, so there was no getting more intimate than that, and Sokka was terrified of the notion that he would never hold Suki like this again.



The next day was a blur. It was a day of rushed preparations, arming and clothing those capable of fighting, forming tactical units and preparing for the invasion. The Fire nation sent note that they were ready to invade, that the Water tribe had two days to surrender, before they were eliminated with Sozin's Comet. That last forty-eight hours was a horrible grace period. The Water tribe sent its message back -- _we have Suki, she'd like an Agni Kai with Princess Azula. Please respond._

"Only that long to take out thousands of ships, to find their leader, and kill her," Chief Arnook said, quietly, when the message came. "That's the only way we can win."

"Don't worry," Katara said, "we can do it. We've got the Avatar – we'll never fail as long as Aang is here."

Aang, who was holding Katara's hand tightly, said, "Yeah."

Arnook shook his head, slowly, and he said, "I'm sorry to say this, Avatar, but I must agree with something Hakoda told me the other day."

"What's that?" Aang asked.

There was a pause, and Hakoda looked at Arnook. Katara looked defensive almost immediately, and Hakoda put a hand on Aang's shoulder. Sokka looked away guiltily, and Suki folded her arms.

"Perhaps it really is the regular men that will be the resolution to this war, not the Avatar."

Katara just grabbed Aang by the forearm and dragged him off, before another word could be said.



Suki approached Sokka as he was laying out battle plans for the troops on the snow-beaches, six hours later. He'd been at it for five.

"Azula's rejected the offer," Suki said, hollowly.

Sokka looked at her sidelong and said, "Oh?" It was so hard to not feel relieved, especially when he knew his reaction should have been disappointed that their chance had come and gone. He looked at her, and shrugged.

"We'll kick her butt, anyway," Sokka said.

Suki nodded, but her heart didn't seem in that, either. "Yeah," she said, "hopefully. I know we can do it, it's just a matter of time… forty-two hours isn't very long for a siege as big as this one."

"Don't worry," Sokka said, lightheartedly, "we'll take her down, and our names will be in history books. Suki the Great, Sokka the Great, Sokka-Suki The Greatness Supreme. Kids will love it."

Suki simply smiled, at that, and then she said, "Mm."

Sokka got the distinct impression that she had so much more to tell him than that, but he didn't ask. He didn't want to know. His heart was racing, as it had with Yue, and he was thinking only of how _she_ could have told him so much more, too, but she hadn't. She hadn't told him a word about Hahn, hadn't uttered a single thing, so that he would be protected. Sokka had asked, and asked, and asked, and she had always changed the subject.

"Suki," he said, looking up from his map. His fingers curled, his knuckles turned white under his gloves. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

There was a pregnant pause, and then she said, "Yes." She was looking at him, but her eyes were settled somewhere on his chest, rather than his eyes.

Sokka collected his thoughts, and then he said, "Are you going to tell me?"

Suki looked up, just slightly, but she still didn't make eye contact. She said, carefully, "I trust you, Sokka, but you're going to try to change my mind."

"Suki," Sokka huffed, frustrated, "What happened to 'we' and all that?"

_Then_ her eyes met his, almost angrily, and she said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Sokka replied, and he knew she was goading him. Unintentionally, maybe, but it was a spike in his side all the same. "Just tell me what you're doing and I'll help you and things won't go wrong."

Suki opened her mouth to retort, but Sokka beat her. He added, curtly, "Or am I supposed to be the back-up plan, supposed to dig you out of trouble?"

Sokka regretted it the instant he said it, and there was a moment of silence where Suki held his gaze, wide-eyed. She seemed to pass through various expressions, angry one second, then hurt, then absolutely furious, and then she finally managed to say something.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but yes."

It was his turn to splutter over his words.

"How am I supposed to protect you," he said, finally. It was a demand, roughly spat at her. "How can I protect you if you're not even going to tell me what you're doing."

She sighed.

"Sokka," she said. She turned, just slightly, taking her eyes off him, and then she said, "I'm going to get taken prisoner. They'll bring me to Azula, and maybe I'll be able to bring her down when I get there. It's the only way to get to her, she wouldn't come onto the battlefield herself."

Sokka felt the bones in his fingers strain, he was clenching his hands so hard. He said, desperately, "No." With more gusto, he added, "No way."

"I need you to get me out of there after Azula's dead," Suki rationalized.

"They'll kill you," Sokka said, "you can't kill their leader and get off scott-free. No way. Suki, this is ridiculous. This is the stupidest plan ever."

"It's the only way," Suki argued.

"No," Sokka insisted. "No, it isn't. You don't even want to do this plan."

"I do," Suki said.

"No you don't."

"I do, Sokka."

"No you don't!"

"It's the only way."

"Nope!"

It was getting childish, and she pulled them out of it before he could. She said, "Please let me do this."

His heart was beating so fast. He said, "I can't. I love you."

The two stared at each other for a few moments, and Sokka was surprised at his own words, for an instant. Firmly, as if it would change her mind, he repeated, "I love you, Suki."

"I love you too," Suki replied, and Sokka's heart skipped a beat, but she crushed it quickly: "But that doesn't change the fact that I have to do this."

He let out a frustrated growl, and he said, loudly, "Alright. _Alright_. Here's the deal, then: we both get taken prisoner. We get ourselves out."

Suki opened her mouth, but at that time, Katara barreled into the room, and she said, breathily, "The invasion's begun."

"What?" Sokka protested. "We still have almost a whole day!"

Katara gave a helpless shrug.

"That lying bi--"

"_Sokka,"_ Suki chided, sharply, but she turned to face Katara. "Where are they coming from?"

"The front, they broke down the wall and we couldn't rebuild it in time. They're just moving forward," Katara said. She continued, more frustrated, "Leave it to Azula to attack while everyone's only getting prepared. She hasn't exactly attacked yet, other than ripping down the wall, but she's ready to. She's just waiting for us to mount the defense. We HAVE to mount the defense."

"Let's go," Sokka said.

"You can see it from the window upstairs," Katara said, "come on, Toph and Aang are waiting for us."



The five of them crowded the window, through Toph joined them only because she was caught between Suki and the icy windowsill. Aang let out a disappointed sigh and Katara bit her lip. Sokka let out a strained "Whoo-boy." Suki said nothing, but her hand drifted to Sokka's, and she gripped it like a vice.

There was Azula, at the helm of an invasion force, coming in from the plain regions before the city. She sat astride a great beast with shaggy black fur and huge curling horns, a ramparrot. The beast's wings were outstretched, framing its rider between them. The forces behind her, ranging from mounted riders to foot-soldiers to large tanks, were in the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions.

And that was where Azula lifted a hand, and everything halted. They seemed to wait, and Sokka glanced at Aang with his eyebrows knitted.

"Think they have terms?"

"I wouldn't put it past Azula for this to be a trap," Katara said.

"I'm going to negotiate, then," Aang said, "Maybe I can reason with her, bring something to an agreement..."

"That's not going to work," Suki said, "you're saying that maybe we can _compromise_. Compromise... there's compromise when everyone believes they've gotten the best end of the bargain. They'll never compromise over the possession of the entire world, they won't share."

"I've got to try," Aang said, and Katara braced herself against him. Aang glanced at her, and put on a steeled sort of smile. He looked absolutely determined. He said, firmly, "I'm going to talk to her."

"I'm going with you," Katara said.

"Alright," Sokka said, "Be careful. I guess Suki and I are going to go get the troops ready here, get whoever we can mobilized to the defenses... they're trying to pinch us, this'll take some creative maneuvering, and once the comet comes, we're screwed..."

Suki was glaring at him.

"Don't say that," Aang said.

"We've got..." Sokka paused. After a second, he said, "We've got only hours to end this thing, Aang. Seriously, if they use the comet, they'll melt this place like nothing else."

"Then let's get mobilized," Suki said, dismissively, "We don't have time."

There was a pause, and Sokka looked at her funny. He said, "So are we doing this or not...?"

"Mobilizing the troops? Of course we are," Suki said, raising her eyebrows. She looked disappointed regardless. Katara and Aang gave them strange looks, confused, and Suki said, "Sokka and I had an idea but if Azula's already on the move, we don't have time to pull it off, unless we go right out there right now. So I suppose we're on the battlefield with everyone else."

"Suki," Katara said, "do you want to come with us to speak with Azula? Maybe that would be good."

"No," Suki said, "I promised Sokka I would help him with the troops, and we're short on generals anyway. You and Aang will know how to handle it."

Sokka frowned, and Suki said, looking at him, though not really speaking to him, "I can't face Azula like _that_."

"Alright," Katara said. Her eyes flicked back to the field, and the ocean beyond it. The forces were overwhelming, against them. Right then, Sokka got an idea, as he surveyed the boat-packed horizon.

Sokka glanced at Toph, and he said, "Hey, sport, you going to stay here and not freeze your toes off, or do you think you could give us a bit of that metalbending help? If we can get you somewhere solid and useful, could you do it? How about the ships?"

Toph caught on immediately, and with gusto.

"If you can get me on one of their ships, I'll be fine, I can feel the vibrations through the metal," Toph said. "But I'll need back up. I don't care who they are, as long as they can cover me and get me from ship to ship as they sink like rocks!"

"Sounds good," Sokka said, "I'll find you a unit... I don't know if boats would work best to get you from place to place, maybe... rip them apart by the hulls..."

"She can borrow Appa," Aang said, and then he grit his teeth. "I'm probably better on foot for today."

Sokka nodded, and Toph consented. Suki smiled, glanced at Toph, and asked, "You could probably take out more people than the four of us combined, if we play your card right."

Toph turned her head up towards Suki's voice and then she said, with a determined grin, "Oh, I'll take out more people than all of you here have in your entire _lives_."

There was a slight silence, where the lot of them looked at each other with a bit of sympathy. Maybe it was the last fight of their lives, already, at their young ages. Maybe they were going to die that day. But no one could say, no one could predict that future alone.



The wind on the field was violent, whipping through Katara's hair and sending it billowing up around her, escaping the captivity of her hood. Aang glanced back at her only once, and drew his arms up to change the direction of the wind around them. As they approached Azula, he kept up this defense, and only when they were a full twenty feet away did he drop that guard. They were completely exposed, and Azula nudged the sides of her ramparrot, and the great beast's clawed feet moved, bringing it so close that its huge curved beak was nearly against Aang's chest. He stepped back only slightly, and grabbed hold of its halter with his hands, bravely.

"Princess Azula," he said, firmly, although politely.

"Avatar," Azula smiled, and her eyes drifted to Katara. She added, "And the Water tribe girl."

"My name is Katara," she replied, but her eyes weren't on Azula. Azula glanced to her side, to where Zuko was waiting, on foot. He was determinedly looking into the distance, avoiding Katara's eyes. Aang eyed the Fire nation siblings with courage, and he knew who was in control out of the two siblings.

"I'm here to discuss terms of peace," Aang said, and his voice came out loud and clear. "I'm not going to settle for less. I command you to leave this place, or I will be forced to defend it with everything I have."

"Mm," Azula murmured, "unfortunately, I'm here to negotiate the Water tribe's surrender. Once that happens, there _will_ be peace."

"No, there won't," Aang said, "there are four nations, not one."

"Don't be foolish," Azula replied, "we've been sitting with three for a hundred years now, and it's made no difference. We've had only two nations for almost two months now, and already great progress has been made. Placing the Water tribe under—"

"Shut up!" Katara snapped, "We're not here to compromise, because we're not going to settle for less than our complete safety!" She was taking the words right from Suki. "There won't be any compromise as long as you insist on carrying on this war."

Azula's ramparrot started up a bit, bucking its head and nearly catching Aang in the face, but he held onto the halter and pulled its head back down, more or less calming it. Azula didn't help this -- she drew back on the reins, violently, as if to punish it, and the beast bucked its head again and let out a squawk. Aang held on, pulling it down again, and Azula jerked the reins again.

"Stop doing that," Aang snapped, his patience wearing a bit. "You're hurting it!"

"It's fine," Azula replied, swiftly. Her golden eyes settled on Katara again, and she said, "Now, Miss Katara. If there will be no compromise, we've agreed that the Fire nation will lay siege to the Water tribe."

"Please," Aang said, as respectful as he could be without losing the order and sternness to his voice, "it doesn't have to be this way. With a bit of co-operation, we can make this world fair for everyone—"

"You won't convince me," Azula replied, "so stop wasting my time. The second order of business is negotiations over a certain possession of mine that you have."

Both Katara and Aang fell silent for a moment, and the gravity of standing before thousands of enemies was gripping them tightly. Appa, behind them, let out a concerned groan, and Aang steeled himself. Azula waited for them to say something, and then she said, "You stole her from my prison."

"Suki?" Katara snapped, "She's not your possession, she's a human being! Why would we hand her over to you?"

"Six months, for the girl," Azula replied, and the smirk on her lips made the deal all that more tempting. Six months to gather their forces, arm up, supply… it could mean a better chance at victory, just for the price of one life. "We'll leave for a minimum of six months if you hand over the girl."

"No," Aang said, loudly, "no way. I'm not putting a price on anyone's head. Suki is my friend, she's the reason I have Appa, I'm not giving her to you!"

"Yeah," Katara breathed, though there lingered a slightest bit of hesitation in her voice. She was resolute, adamant that no life be spent, but the free world gave her the tiniest, most microscopic bit of doubt. She said, "It's either none of us or all of us."

Azula looked genuinely angry for an instant, and then she said, smugly, "Very well. You have six hours, and then we strike." She glanced at Zuko, smartly, and she said, "Do you have anything to say to them, Fire Lord Zuko?"

Aang's stomach wrenched, right then, at the look on Zuko's face – it was not one of hard-boiled rage, nor was it even the slightest bit like Azula's. It seemed softer, upset, and more careful. His eyes were watering and they flicked to Aang's for the briefest of seconds before turning to Azula. "Just one thing," he said.

"You don't deserve to speak with Aang," Katara snarled, suddenly, and Aang had to glance back at her. "You horrible, horrible monster, you have no right to say anything to him!"

"No," Zuko protested, suddenly, and he seemed even angry for a moment. "Avatar, I'd like to speak with you in private."

Azula laughed, loftily, and she said, "What could you possibly have to say that you couldn't say in front of your people, Zuko?" But she didn't seem to argue when Zuko moved forward.

"No way," Katara said, defensively, stepping forward, in front of Aang.

"Alright," Aang said, moving around Katara. As he did, he took her by the sleeve and said, hushed, "We have to see what he has to say."

"_Aang."_

"Katara, please," Aang whispered back, and then he glanced at Zuko, who started forward awkwardly. Katara reluctantly took a few steps back, and Aang didn't budge a single bit when Zuko came within a foot of him. Nor did he move when Zuko lowered his mouth to Aang's ear, and placed a hand on Aang's shoulder. It wasn't a cruel or merciless gesture at all, but Aang could feel a single flicker of fear in his belly.

And then, hesitantly, Zuko said, "I'll do what I can for you… I'll try to bring her down." Before even waiting for a reply, Zuko backed off and returned to Azula's side, meeting Aang's eyes with a silent determination.

Aang was confused, and he said, aloud, "What?" With one eyebrow raised and the other dipped, and his mouth hanging open, he struggled with being stunned for an instant, and then he screwed his face into a look of determination.

He said nothing, though Katara put her hand on his shoulder.

Then he straightened up, and Azula said, sounding vexed, "Let's go, Zuko. We're wasting the time we've given them to prepare." The smirk reappeared at that line, and Zuko gave a resolute nod.

"Let's go, Aang," Katara said, "everyone's waiting for us."

"Yeah," Aang said, and he backed away towards Appa, refusing to turn his back on them. His eyes stayed locked on Zuko's even as he jumped up to Appa's head, and only when Zuko turned away and left through the aisle of the Fire nation ranks at Azula's heels did Aang turn his eyes to Katara.

"I don't believe it," Aang said, as they were out of earshot, rising into the air. "Zuko said he'd try to bring Azula down…"

"I don't believe it either," Katara argued, immediately, struggling to keep her surprise from making her shout it. "He's no good! He did the same thing to me back in the catacombs, made me think he was on our side, but—"

Aang was staring at her, suddenly, but when Katara trailed off, he didn't ask. He just twisted Appa's reins between his fingers and struggled to come to terms with it, and he said, "I don't know. But what does he have to gain? Why would he tell me that?"

Katara shook her head, and there was a heavy pause.

"Don't tell Suki about this. It's better if she doesn't know," Aang said, as they neared the city, passing over the ice wall. Katara looked at him, so awkwardly, and then she nodded.



"No coat?" Sokka said, concerned.

Suki undressed right in front of him. She was kicking off her skirt, dragging on a pair of fitted blue pants, all while he watched. In the light, bright white with the afternoon, her skin seemed to glow. There were almost no marks left on her, except the white scars that were so small and so rare he had to look closely to see them. When she lifted her head and began unfastening her shirt, Sokka's eyes flicked to her forehead, where the burn had healed, into a shock white that made her pale skin seem darker by comparison.

She said, seriously, "Princess Yue didn't exactly dress for battle. It's too bulky, restricts movement."

"No armor?" Sokka pressed, as he pulled on his tunic. His wolf tunic, the one he wore when he saved her. That weighed on his shoulders heavier than the furs and sinews themselves did. If he had to save her again, maybe it meant the thing was cursed.

He was terrified out of his wits but he was possessed by a pride and sense of strength that he'd never felt before. They were taking on the Fire nation in their own home. _He_ was leading a large portion of it. He had never felt so responsible in his life. Being trusted with hundreds of thousands of lives was nothing like being trusted with the lives of his small village back home.

Suki continued to focus on dressing and undressing. She slipped off the robe she wore, and pull on one with tighter sleeves. She bunched the sleeves into a set of gauntlets before she bothered tying it shut, leaving the front dangling open over her chest. He could see from her throat down to the waistband of her pants, other than the narrow white strip of her breast-band, obscuring her cleavage.

"Heavy," she said, "weighs me down and doesn't protect me against lightning or fire. It's useless weight."

"You can swim in that stuff," Sokka said, hollowly, "and you say it's heavy."

When she moved to close her shirt, Sokka stopped her by putting his hands on her hips and kissing her full on the mouth, and she let him. She let him for a good moment, and then she pulled back and said, "There will be time for hundreds more of those, you know, don't be such a baby."

She said it in that good-old teasing voice, the one that told him she was trying to make him _feel better_ by insulting him, on the eve of battle. Sokka didn't mind at all. He shot back, as he stepped back and pulled on his greaves, "Only hundreds? Cheap!"

"We'll have time to do whatever we want," Suki said.

"For entire days? None of this 'wow is my sister going to hear?' bull?" Sokka teased, and Suki looked over at him and smiled. She lashed her shirt shut, and she prodded him in the chest. He wondered if she could feel how damned hard his heart was pounding, how terrified yet psyched he was, in that instant where her fingers hit his chest.

Somehow, everything she was saying seemed forced, and he realized that he sounded the exact same way. He realized, belatedly, that they were just pretending everything was fine, as if it were nothing.

"You can be as noisy as you want, I don't think I'm the noisy type," Suki replied.

"Bet I can disprove that," Sokka said, "I'll make you noisy like... well, like _noisy_ things are _noisy_."

Suki started to laugh, but the curtain on the door swung open and there was Hakoda, in the archway. He was already fully dressed for battle, his hair tied back and his weathered face drawn into a look that was far from amused. He was battle hardened, and unlike his son, his sense of humour wasn't showing through on such a bleak afternoon.

"_Sokka,"_ his father said, in a tone that Katara had inherited and had intoned on him thousands of times before. Suki flushed, furiously, and with her hands on her hips, she looked away. Sokka dared launch a smirk at Suki, which was rather unnecessary, considering the time. Sokka chalked it up to nervousness.

To his father, Sokka blurted out a defensive, "What? We'll be out in a minute, sorry -- is the navy -- er, the boats, are the boats ready?"

"Leaving as soon as I get back to the docks," Hakoda said, "Are you sure your friend will be able to break the hulls? This sounds risky."

"Don't worry about it," Sokka replied, "Toph knows what she's doing. I don't think anything could get between her and bringing down those ships."

"Sokka," Hakoda said. It wasn't intoned that time – it was more affectionate, and he clapped a hand to Sokka's shoulder with a smile. He said, "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," Sokka said, almost breathless, and he paused, and then said, "Have you told Katara that?"

"I haven't seen her since she left with Aang to speak with Azula," Hakoda said, and there was an odd pause where he and Sokka just looked at each other. "I'll tell her if I see her before we leave. If something goes wrong, you'll let her know, won't you?"

"Yeah, Dad," Sokka replied, "of course."



"What did you tell him?" Azula asked, politely.

Zuko looked up at her, and she slid out of the saddle of her ramparrot, so close that the toes of her boots stepped over his. She let out a breath and it was foggy on the air. Zuko backed off, even as Azula cast the reins into a servant's hands, and she asked, "Well?"

"I just told him that I'd be the one to kill him," Zuko said, with a shrug. His eyes moved to the side, just a flicker, as he said it, and Azula's eyes narrowed.

"Did you?" she said. She examined his posture, his voice, and the way he held himself when he said it. She knew he was a liar, and a bad one at that, but she didn't mention it. "Why?"

"Well, I've been watching you do that mental torture thing, and I thought I'd give him something to anticipate," Zuko replied, awkwardly.

Azula just smirked, feeling perfectly secure and not the least bit frightened. She'd always known he would go against her. For that, she said, calmly, "Good work. I can't wait to see it on the battlefield."

"Yeah," Zuko said, still so awkward. Azula put a hand on his forearm, and smiled, cocking her head very slightly. It was an affectionate gesture.

"Zuko," she said, "I'm so glad that in the end, you've turned out so honourable."

He looked away, just as she expected, and then he met her eyes, with a lot of determination. He swallowed his breath, almost nervously, and then he said, "Yeah. Yeah, I've finally found my destiny."

"Good," she purred, knowing she'd found another weakness, another lie, another poor acting job. He couldn't pretend to save his own life, and they both knew it. Azula was full to the brim with confidence. She said, "Well, wait in your room. I'll get you when the time comes. You, soldier, escort him. Zuko, behave yourself."

Zuko glanced between the solider and Azula, feeling all the more bitter.

What Azula didn't see was the determined smirk that graced his handsome face the instant she stepped away to dress for battle.



"Toph," Suki called.

Toph inclined her head at the sound of Suki's voice, and she turned towards the source. Suki sounded far away, but Toph knew she was coming closer, because instants later, Suki had her hand on Toph's shoulder.

"What's up?" Toph asked, rolled her shoulder back so Suki would take her hand off. Suki did. Toph couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice and she didn't even try to.

"Before you left," Suki said, "I wanted to apologize--"

"For what?" Toph interrupted, sharply. "For rubbing everything in my face? Don't you have a battle to get to? 'Cause I know I have work to do and I don't really have time to talk."

_Floozy_, Toph thought, snidely.

"I'm sorry that I've made you unhappy," Suki replied, "I can't apologize for being with Sokka, but I know I've hurt you and I wanted to apologize for that, before we go to battle."

"As if you care," Toph said, dismissively.

Suki got defensive. She replied, "I'm not lying."

Toph snorted, and replied, "You lied before. When we were in the orchard... even if you were in a tree, I could tell. Vibrations, vibes, your voice. You slept with Sokka, and I don't really _care_ anymore, but you still lied."

Suki didn't reply for a second, and Toph figured she was too stunned, and turned to go. She could hear Appa's steady breath, she could hear the two waterbenders accompanying her talking quietly, atop Appa. Before Toph turned even a bit, Suki grabbed her by the shoulders to hold her still, and Toph struggled to throw her off.

"Don't touch me!" Toph protested. Suki let go just as Toph lifted an arm to punch her off. She heard Suki let out a stifled breath.

"Toph, let me finish," she said, almost pleading, and Toph felt Suki grab her wrist. She didn't resist that, even as Suki brought it up and planted it against her chest, over her heart. Toph froze on the spot, and she could feel Suki's heartbeat through her clothing.

"Look," Suki said, "I'm sorry that I was hostile. I was just frustrated and let it get the better of me... but... I love Sokka and while at times he's annoying, or pigheaded, he makes me happy. I've come to depend on him, he protects me, and I protect him."

"Gee, sounds like you're just rubbing it in," Toph said, loftily, though she couldn't deny that Suki was telling the truth. She was being completely honest, Toph felt it with every steady beat, and that disappointed her. She'd known it before, but confirmation was a stab.

"But you mean a lot to him, too," Suki continued, "you really do. You probably know a lot more about him than I do, in some ways. You're important to him, too, and he'd be devastated if you begrudged him because of me."

Toph swallowed hard. She felt guilt settle in, there, and she said, moodily, "Let's talk about this after the war, okay?"

Suki was silent, and Toph could feel the tremor of fear in Suki's chest, she could feel how Suki shrank back the slightest bit. And then, apprehension and dread on her voice, as she said, "What if I die?"

Toph hauled her closer, suddenly, with two hands on the front of Suki's shirt, and it jostled her so much that their noses bumped and Toph didn't care, even as Suki reared her head back as a result. That close, Toph said, threatening, "Oh no you don't. You don't get to die and hurt Sokka again. I don't know WHAT happened to the other girl, but I know that I'm going to make you regret it if you die."

"I don't want to die, either," Suki replied, defensively, "but if I'm going up against Azula--"

"No," Toph snapped, "it doesn't matter who you're going up against, they're all the same to me. Just don't die! Don't get hurt, don't bleed, don't burn, you walk out of that battle flawless 'cause if not he's never going to get over it!"

Suki said, terrified, "This is Azula I'm fighting, Toph, it's not going to be a quick and painless smackdown. I'm _ready_ to get hurt, believe me, I _want _to come out of it perfectly fine, but I know it's not going to be a reality. This is Azula, Toph, she broke me once and I know she can do it again, and I'm _going_ to kill her but it might just kill me, too."

Toph had never felt more uncomfortable in her life, to have someone she disliked very, very strongly suddenly so weak in her hands. Toph couldn't tell if she was crying or not, but the voice alone suggested she could be. Suki sniffled, and let out a long breath.

"Take care of Sokka for me, if I go down," she said.

"I will," Toph said, "and not because you're asking me to."

"I know," Suki said, "I just wanted to apologize for how insensitive I've been. I've been so wrapped up in anger and bitterness and hurt that--"

"You got defensive," Toph said. She let go of Suki, and Suki lingered close for an instant, and then stepped back. Toph said, "It's okay, no harm done." She tried to be reasonable, rational, even though the jealousy was making her emotions get mangled up.

"Thank you," Suki said. Somewhere in the distance, Sokka's voice called out Suki's name, and Toph picked him out from the crowd with relative ease. It was his fault, really, for being so obnoxious. Suki turned, Toph could hear the motion in the way the snow crunch and Suki's voice went the other way, and then she said, "Let's be friends when this is all done, alright?"

"Alright," Toph said, and as Suki started to go towards Sokka, she said, "And I'm serious about the not getting killed thing!"

"You too," Suki replied.

Toph kept that in mind, too.



Ursa hadn't strength to stand, but she could sit, helplessly, in the snow, huddled against the side of the sled. Iroh stood on bandy legs, and he looked down at her and then down into the oasis -- he could just see the grass, the wooden arch, and the trellis full of plants.

"And now to find a way down," Iroh said, humourlessly. Ursa tilted her head, very slightly. She said nothing, and when he glanced at her, she shook her head, slowly, and she closed her eyes.

Iroh said, "Princess Ursa?"

Nothing.

Iroh knelt down, slowly, to her level. His hand drifted to her cheek, and he brushed down her scarf with his thumb, moving the fur trim of the hood away so he could see her face.

"Princess Ursa," he said, softly, and she opened her eyes again. He breathed a sigh of relief. The scars all down her face were shock white against the slapped-red of her skin.

"It's cold," she managed, numbly.

"It will be much warmer below," Iroh promised, "we simply have to find passage down."

Ursa shook her head, very slightly, and her eyes started dropping again. Iroh looked towards the cliff, and he examined it for a place, and then Ursa said, so hushed he had to lean in close to hear her, "I should have brought them with me."

Iroh looked at her, doubtfully, and he started to say something, but instead, he fell quiet. He shifted to take her hands in his, and her eyes slipped shut once more. She was completely still, and Iroh pulled off one glove and slipped his hand between her throat and the many layers of fur and fabric.

Along that delicate neck, he felt only the faintest of pulses. He said her name, and he leant his forehead against hers. The animals whined, and Iroh felt his heart beat faster in his chest.

If his throat wasn't already sore from breathing the frozen air, it would have been raw with grief anyway.

"Come on, Princess," he said, as he reached down and picked her up over one shoulder. "Just down this cliff and you will be warm again."



"Come," Azula commanded, and she walked by him, briskly. He followed, surprised, and when he was too slow, she slowed up to grab him by the sleeve and march him faster. Zuko went.

"We're going now?" Zuko said, and she steered him into the royal dressing room, just down the hall. There were the stands for her armor and his, and he watched as she put on her gauntlets, but left the shoulder pauldrons and rerebraces on the dummy.

"Put on your light gear and don't bother with anything that will impede with swimming."

Zuko didn't say anything. Azula looked at him, sharply, and he reached for his faulds. She slapped his hand away.

"Do you honestly think you can swim in that?" she admonished.

"Who said I was swimming?" Zuko snapped.

"I did," Azula said, "don't go disappointing me now, Zuzu, it isn't the time. You're leading us into the city via the same route you used to enter the city before, all those months ago -- the men are ready and now it's just you and I."

She was changing into a different pair of boots. Zuko just stared, angrily.

"I'm supposed to do what YOU want?" he demanded. "I'm Fire Lord -- I think that's a stupid plan and we'll continue to attack from the west."

"Yes," she said, "actually, you are supposed to do what I want. After all, you've never given a battle order in your life. In fact, we cannot 'continue' to attack from the west because we haven't _begun_ attacking from the west."

"Azula," Zuko growled, "I'm not leading you in. I don't think it's intelligent for both leaders of our nation to go into the heat of battle. It's the stupidest plan ever."

Azula said nothing. She was pulling on a robe for warmth, over what little armour she was wearing, and he watched as she adjusted her hairpiece to be positioned perfectly. He was watching her without blinking, and she was watching him, through the mirror, once more.

"What do you have to fear? Death?" she teased. Zuko didn't reply, so she continued, "There's no reason to stay here and let everyone else have all the fun. Don't you want to claim some glory for yourself?"

Zuko waited, and then he reflected for a moment. He was sure she had ulterior motives, and for that instant, he reconsidered his resolve to kill her here.

"How many people are going with us?" he asked.

"Only about a dozen men," Azula said, "that should suffice. With the two of us, who else do we need? We're only going to remove the leaders, after all, and Chief Arnook is an aging man, not even a bender. His advisors are likely just as ancient."

Zuko replied, "Alright. I'll do it."

Azula smiled, and she said, "I'm so very glad you will." She adjusted her shirt, and turned to leave, but on a last note, she commented, "Mai and Ty Lee will be leading the invasion through the eastern wall, by the by. I couldn't leave my best friends out of the escapades, and they'll meet us at the war council room, where-ever it is."

Zuko nodded, slowly, and almost playfully, she said, "Join us at the deck when you're ready, Zuzu."

Much to his shock, before she left, she stunned him by taking him by the chin and pressing a familial kiss to his unscarred cheek. It was as if she were proud of him, and when she backed off her smirk was unlike any other he had ever seen on her face. He had seen thousands of those smirks, but something about this one broke through his otherwise-desensitized barrier. She looked bloodthirsty.

He didn't say anything to that, and she left the room, walking with that same sense of purpose as always. He was unsettled.

_Yes_, he decided. He'd kill her en route, and then the world would believe it had been an _accident_.

He sheathed his broadswords under his robes, out of sight but still within reach, and as his fingers slipped off the hilt, he wondered, vaguely, when he had started to learn from Azula's methods. He wondered when he had sunk to Azula's level and considered the death of another to be justifiable.

She was a monster, but, then again, killing her would make him no better.

But then, Zuko realized, it was for the benefit of the world.



The small boat rocked, and within its metal walls, Zuko held to the side and looked at the looming city walls ahead with great reluctance and fear. He was helping Azula get in through the passage, through the very same passage he himself had used before, and although he was determined to stop Azula before he got there, he had to wait for the time being. He was outnumbered seven to one, at the moment, as six of the soldiers had gone ahead to scout the seal-tunnels and find the route, before allowing the Fire Lord and his sister in.

Then, one surfaced by their boat, and Azula looked at him expectantly.

"We're through," the soldier said, and Azula smirked and started forward. Zuko followed begrudgingly, and the soldier said, "It's quite far, but it's doable. It's about one hundred metres. Can you swim that far, Princess?"

Azula actually hesitated, and then she said, firmly, "Of course I can. Go on."

The soldier ducked under the water and disappeared. Azula glanced at Zuko and he looked away, and she said, "You go first. I'll follow you."

Zuko took a breath and he jumped in, and he disappeared under the water, sinking down into the dark and grabbing onto the rope lead. A few more soldiers slipped in, and then Azula took a deep breath, and dove in after him. It was so shock-cold that it took a second to reactivate his brain, and when it did, Zuko kicked his legs and spread his arms and started off. They passed through the icy tunnels to the other side, and when Zuko surfaced on the other side, he looked down into the water, shivering, and realized Azula wasn't quite behind him. Worry struck him, suddenly, bobbing in the freezing water, and he wasn't sure why. With a blast of fire to warm himself, he ducked under the water to find her, rightly freaked out, but as he did she surfaced through the dark water, and she latched an arm around him, shaking.

He spluttered under her weight and grabbed onto the edge of the hole. Azula clung to him for a moment, shivering, and then a soldier offered his hand to her. Azula took it and allowed him to pull her out of the water, pushing herself up to the edge. Zuko coughed up water that had snuck in his mouth when Azula had grabbed him, and crawled out of the hole, and breathed some more fire to warm himself, and dry his clothes. Azula did the same, as did the other soldiers.

"Well, that certainly is a good way of waking people up," Azula said, "how kind of the Water tribe, to leave such a direct path available to us."

Zuko boiled more water out of his clothes with his heated hand, and his clothes steamed. He replied, "Just for you, Azula. It's not, you know, natural caverns for the seals, or anything. The Water tribe built them just for you!"

Azula scoffed and wrung out her hair. Her eye make-up was streaked, leaving smoky shadows around her eyes. It made her cold golden eyes stand out even sharper. She said, "Don't be stupid."

"It was a joke," Zuko said. He shifted his weight to the other foot as the rest of the soldiers prepared themselves for the rest of the journey.

"Where to next?" Azula asked, and Zuko looked at her.

He realized just how much power he had right then. They'd be lost without him. If he didn't tell them, they couldn't strike the Water tribe from the inside. This entire city was relying on him to turn her down, to disagree, and Azula's eyebrows lifted when he hesitated. What if he let them in and failed to kill Azula before they got all the way in?

Zuko swallowed the lump in his throat, and decided, very bravely, to lie. To buy time.

"That way," he said, pointing.

Azula looked in that direction, and she said, "Where does it lead?"

"Into the sewers," Zuko said. That's where they were supposed to be, anyway. The city, technically, was above them, so there was no point in continuing on this level. He didn't know how to lie about it any other way. Azula looked suspicious.

"Am I supposed to believe that we're staying on THIS level to go UP to a drain?"

Zuko didn't hesitate. "Yeah."

"Really?" she said, skeptically.

"Yes," he said, realizing this mistake. He glanced to the left, awkwardly, and then up. This, too, was a mistake. Azula closed in on him.

Azula grabbed his forearm with her nails, and she grabbed what remained of his disfigured ear between his fingers. He struggled for an instant, but it hurt terribly, so he just let out a strangled shout of pain and moved with her, trying to ease it.

"Let go!" he barked.

"Give me the correct directions," Azula demanded. She pinched harder, her palm pressed against his temple in the process, driving a dizzying pain into his scar. It ached. Zuko buckled his knees under the pain, exhausted and being pushed to his limit, and on his knees in front of her, his forehead almost against her abdomen, he whined under the pain. Nothing was more excruciating than that one weakness: although most of his nerves were fried, there was precious, tender flesh underneath that suffered the agony.

"Please!" he said, "Let go and I'll tell you!"

"Tell me first!" Azula chided.

She was getting positively ruthless, absolutely vicious. Zuko could do nothing to stop it, like it was a snowball rolling faster, and faster down a hill, unstoppable. He let out one last sharp breath and pained gasp, and he breathed, "UP, UP, go UP, over THERE! Let me go!" He gestured wildly in the right direction.

"That's better," Azula said. She released him, and he hovered there on his knees for a second, and he wiped at his good eye with the back of his hand, and then felt his scar. When he glanced at his hand, he saw blood, and his breath hitched.

"I'm bleeding," he said. "You cut me!"

"I don't care," Azula said, "Seal it shut or let it clot, we're busy, Zuko."

He looked at her, hurt and disturbed, and he kept his hand over his face. He stood up, shakily, still trembling from a combination of the cold and the pain, and he said, "I still hate you."

"Good," Azula replied, "It keeps you eager to achieve."

Zuko steeled himself, located the bleeding, and sealed it shut with a short flame off his finger. It stung horribly, but it stopped the blood from dripping into his bad eye. When he had blinked back the water in his eyes and recovered himself, he looked up to where the soldiers were melting through the ice and up. When they broke through, a flood of water poured down, and Azula stepped out of its way, looking up.

"You have to go through that," he said. Azula didn't even look at him or acknowledge that he'd said anything.

"Remember," she said, "all resistance is to be removed as swiftly and quietly as possible. We need to avoid alerting anyone of our presence."

"Good luck with that," Zuko said, getting frustrated, "you don't look the slightest bit Water tribe. It might have worked in the Earth kingdom, but no one's falling for that now."

"Oh, do shut _up_, Zuko," Azula dismissively, "or I'll even out that scar for you."

On they went.



"We're in," Zuko said, pointing down the long ice pipe. Azula peered down it, breathing heavily. Zuko wasn't really surprised, as odd as it was to see Azula strained by such a feat. The first time he had broken into the city, it had taken him thirty hours to get from the ship to the shrine, and despite having done it in three hours, this time, it was still a stressing feat. He himself felt taxed by the cold and the work, and Azula, having never done such a thing in her life, seemed exhausted.

He was happy to see her tired, for once. He noted it, worriedly, and decided it would help him. If Azula wasn't at the top of her game, he had more of a chance to overcome her quickly. Speed was his best bet, speed with sheer force, as Azula depended largely on precision and the element of surprise.

"Very well," Azula said, sending a great fog up on the air out of her mouth. Her bangs were stringy and half-frozen, and her pale skin was colourless with the cold, but her eyes still had life. "Let's go."

Two of the original dozen men were drowned in the second body of water they'd passed through, and three more seemed prepared to die, they were so frostbitten. Zuko pitied them, but he knew they were loyal to Azula. They'd defend her if he tried to take her out now. As soon as they died or at least dwindled to a manageable number, he'd have a better advantage.

The pipe led to an ice valve that was easily melted through, and they climbed out through it. It left them in the great hall, a high-arched room full of blue tapestries and a great stage. Last time Zuko had passed through here, there had been no one, as the entire palace had been called to battle, but this time it was different: various people were still there, and the instant the group of Fire nation soldiers and their two very peculiar leaders were apparent, there was an uproar.

Azula was a threat, but a group of unarmed non-benders had no hope of defending themselves. They went down, and Zuko didn't even have to lift an unwilling finger: Azula conquered them all with ease, and when the people had been reduced to smouldering bodies on the floor, she turned to Zuko and smirked.

"Child's play," she announced.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Zuko replied.

"No," Azula said, "what gave you that impression?"

"Creep," Zuko scoffed.

"Just like you," Azula taunted, but before Zuko could comment, she turned and cast her eyes around the room, and she remarked, "Such ugly architecture. Look at those carvings– they don't even look like real animals. They're all deformed!"

"Whatever," Zuko said, not going to admit he agreed. There were more serious matters at hand. He said, "Let's just keep going."

Azula said, casually, "Eager, aren't you?"

He wasn't, so he just growled at her and led the way out a door, but an ice window at the end of the hall gave him a view of the entire city front. On the other side was a disheartening sight, to him: hundreds of Fire nation soldiers were swarming the city streets and canals – he could see them moving amongst the buildings like tiny red ants, in swarms of a couple dozen, and he could see the flicker of fire lights like sparkles from a fireworks display. Fleeting, startling, beautiful but burning.

"Admiring them?" Azula smirked, and she didn't stop to look too closely. She kept going, and she asked, "Which way now?"

"There," Zuko said, and he gestured at another hall. "But—"

He couldn't quite finish on time. At that instant, a few tribesmen burst around the corner, apparently as some sort of ambush. It was a good one, too, as Azula, overconfident but exhausted, was forced to jump back to avoid a slash of a spear. As they lunged forward and their Fire nations soldiers surged into the fray, there was a rush of flames. One of the tribesmen fell, another kept lunging forward, and there was a scream as a Fire nation soldier was gutted.

Azula held her ground, and with a loud blast, drew lightning and charged it into the face of one of the tribesmen. He too, fell, face blackened. The last of the three kept on his feet, bringing down two more soldiers before falling to Azula's hand.

Azula scoffed.

"Child's play," she repeated herself.

Zuko glanced at the bodies of the Fire nation soldiers, one still bleeding out, and he said, "Azula, we're not doing so well. How do you expect us to get OUT of this?"

"Pfft," Azula scoffed, "by time we get to the heart of the palace our army will have caught up with us. I have no fears about getting out."



"Aang," Katara said. He was running, and she could barely keep up. Her breath came hard in big puffs of mist on the cold air, and she called his name when she could. He didn't wait up, and she didn't catch up until he had reached the door to the oasis.

"Go take care of everyone else," Aang ordered, "Help Sokka and Suki lead the—"

"They can handle it, I'm going to protect you," Katara said, breathily, following him in the doorway and shutting the door behind her. He rounded on her, almost in a panic.

"What?!" Aang exclaimed.

"Aang!" Katara replied, "You're trying to get into the Spirit World again, right? I'll take care of your body."

Aang opened his mouth to reply, maybe to refuse, maybe just for the sake of looking relieved, but he ended up just nodding furiously and scrambling across the bridge, settling down under the arch. His heart was beating so fast he was shaking, but he calmed himself as rapidly as he could. Katara made sure the door was shut tight. When she turned to face the dais, she spotted a figure climbing down the cliff-face, from the tundra above, into their oasis.

"Aang!"

With a yelp of surprise, Katara pointed up to the cliff-face above -- there was Zuko's uncle, red in the face, snow-flecked, and looking worn but otherwise alive. He was grappling his way down, with a parka-wrapped person over one shoulder. When he reached the bottom, he let go of his rope and pulled his passenger off his shoulder, setting them down in the grass. He brushed his gloved hands off, and caught his breath.

"Pardon my intrusion," he said, while Katara stared. He said, "I hope I may I be of assistance to you."

"You," she said, stunned.

Aang raised his hands, defensively, but he didn't seem like he wanted to attack. Iroh seemed to know this, but he casually lifted his hands anyway.

"It's okay, Aang," she said, quickly, "He's the reason we got out of Ba Sing Se safely… it's fine, just… focus."

"I know. Focusing," Aang replied. "Is she alright?"

He gestured at the woman, who looked half-frozen. Her hood had fallen back for an instant, and Iroh had knelt down next to her. Katara, getting her act together, rushed over, falling to her knees beside her.

"Can I heal anything?" she asked, and Iroh shook his head.

"She is just very ill, and the long trek through the snow did not help," he said. "Breath of Fire works best on oneself -- though it has certainly kept her alive. If you have anything to burn, I will get a fire going."

There was a pause, and Katara looked around. Aang did, too, and he said, "Just take some stuff off the bridge."

In any other situation, Katara would have balked at damaging a spiritual place, but she knew Aang would have, too, if it wasn't serious. So she got up and yanked a couple rickety old braces off the rail of the bridges. She returned them to Iroh, who loosened Ursa's outerwear and set the wood alight. After a few moments of silence, Aang meditating and Katara and Iroh waiting, the woman opened her eyes, just slightly. Iroh breathed a sigh of relief.

"I hate to change the subject, but..." Katara looked up at Iroh and asked, "What can we do to win?"



Somewhere along the way, after a few quick but choking battles, Azula and Zuko found themselves quite alone, and standing in the Chief's room. Chief Arnook wasn't present, thank the spirits, but Azula waited there with a smile, as if she expected him to come back any moment.

"We're going to die," Zuko said. He was almost shaking, but willpower alone kept him still. "We should have gone to the oasis. That's probably where the Avatar is, you know that?"

Azula said, simply, "the Avatar doesn't matter anymore."

"Why not?" Zuko replied.

"I never cared about the Avatar," Azula said, "he's just a child, after all. I only bothered with him in the first place because Father was so adamant about it."

Zuko felt the rage boil in his gut. He said, "Then why were you so angry when he turned out to be alive, huh?"

"Because I thought I'd managed to add his name to my list of triumphs," Azula said, "not because I thought he was a danger to me, or anything. But, you know, I think killing the Fire Lord was good enough."

He was struck silent, and he looked at her with utter malice. He reached under his coat to grasp the handles of his broadswords, but Azula had already taken hold of his hands. Her fingers were like ice against his, and her nails dug in, just the slightest bit. He met her eyes with his, with all the hatred in his body, and he couldn't say a word. Azula's eyes narrowed, and she smirked in a way that bared teeth, and he imagined she was ready to rip his throat out.

"I knew it," he uttered.

"Of course you did," Azula said, "and you never cried over him."

"I—"

"Never cried," Azula repeated. "You didn't care."

"I did," he roared at her, and he ripped his hands from her grip. She settled on folding her arms as he paced, angrily, and he snapped, "I cared. I worked so hard to—"

"As Mai said," Azula said, "did you care because you were expected to, or was it genuine? Deep down, you know he got what he deserved. Father simply had to die."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Zuko cried, "What's wrong with you, Azula?! You never make sense, you never have a motive! You killed the Fire Lord so that someone you think is weaker would be Fire Lord! You rigged Uncle's execution and then let him off for no good reason!"

His pacing was becoming more frantic, he twisted and turned on the spot, he circled her like a shark and turned away as if disinterested, but then rounded on her again. She just stood still, like a statue, unbothered.

"You drag me here to the middle of the Water tribe to kill ME, when you could do it in the comfort of the ship and no one would dare question you! What are you doing?!"

He stopped, took a deep breath, and shouted, right in her face, "What are you DOING?!"

Her face was remarkably blank, and Zuko was shaking with anger. He grabbed her by the forearms and shook her, and she still remained blank, no malice, no trace of emotion at all, and even as her head bobbed up and down from the momentum of her body, she kept her eyes on him and her mouth in a straight line.

"Tell me!" he demanded, and there was nothing.

"Tell me!" he roared, and there was nothing.

"Azula!" he demanded, again, and there was nothing, nothing at all. He took a deep breath, and then said, "Tell me now or I'll kill you!"

Then, just slightly, the corner of her mouth twitched up, and she uttered, "No."

He shoved her backwards, over the edge of the bed, and pinned her there angrily. She let him, it seemed, though she lifted her hands to hold onto his forearms, too, and she lifted her chin with pride, though it exposed her throat more at the same time. He wanted to reach for his swords but he couldn't let her go.

It was awkward, with Azula pinned down only by his weight, all his upper body strength focused on holding her wrists down with one hand, and he poised the other over her face. He gathered no flames there, he only stared, felt her breathe under him and bend her torso against his legs. She didn't struggle, she merely let him hold her there.

She even had the gall to laugh when her eyes flicked to his raised hand, and she said, "What is this, Zuzu? Going to mark me like dad marked you?"

"Yes," Zuko replied, "yes. And then I'm going to take my throne and banish you. I'm never going to think about you again. I'm just going to forget you exist. I'm going to call off this fruitless war and do what I should have done years ago: fix things."

"Spare me the dramatics, Zuko," Azula replied, "You don't have the guts, let alone the skill. The instant you let me go, you're going to be sprawled on the floor, begging me to let you take that back."

"No," Zuko insisted. "No, I won't be. I would never beg for you."

Zuko's weight on her wrists was ridiculously strong, simply because he was male and biology had blessed him with more muscle mass and considerable height over others. Azula just pursed her lips and lifted her chin, so his face wasn't so annoying over hers.

"Frankly," Azula said, calmly, "I don't see what you're going to accomplish if you don't let me go. Going to hold me here forever, Zuko? You have to let me go some time."

Against the icy ceiling and the white furs, the snow-packed furniture and the pale imported wood, both Zuko and Azula stuck out like sore thumbs, with their dark hair and blood-red robes. Even Zuko's burn, the staunched leathery brown, was vivid against such cold colours. Azula let out a foggy breath, and Zuko's fingers clenched into her skin. He held her down against those rich furs so furiously. He felt her breath warm on his face.

"You are the most twisted thing in this world," Zuko snarled, "I can't believe you, Azula, you're barely more than a child... you're barely a teenager, let alone an adult, and yet you find it so easy to cause people suffering. You're sick. We NEVER should have come here!"

"On the contrary," Azula purred, "_You_ never should have come here."

Zuko could barely react, he was too infuriated and set on holding her down. Azula brought her knees up, together, and she slammed them right into his crotch, prompting him to let out a strangled wail of pain and let go of her arms -- in fact, he crashed down on top of her, slumping, and Azula made a rapid show of rolling him off as he recovered and tried to keep a hold on her sleeve. She rolled. He fell.

With her knees on either side of the trunk of his waist and her hands gripping his wrists, digging little gouges through the fur, Azula said, "Father ought to have slain you when he had the chance, should have ignored Mother's tears and just sent you to your death. It would prevent a great deal of _embarrassment_ and trouble for us, the loyal ones!"

"Loyal?" Zuko seethed, and he wrested her off. She could kill him at any moment, at such a distance, with so much firepower at her prodigious hands, but she seemed too intent on talking to him instead. Zuko seethed, more, "Loyal? What's loyalty to family if you're betraying the entire world?!"

"The Fire nation comes before the world," Azula replied, on the bottom once more -- Zuko twisted the grip of one hand off and he grabbed her by the front of her shirt, dragging her torso up and pinning her legs beneath his. She said, right before she smacked him in the temple with the flaming heel of her hand, "and for the Fire nation I'll guiltlessly end you."

Zuko wheeled off her, spinning across the room, and Azula was up in a flash. She glanced up, and with a rush of fire she had melted a hole through the ice roof. She leapt up, clear through it, and Zuko growled and pursued, using the bed as a lift to go right through. He had to scramble to get his footing properly.

"Running away, you coward?" Zuko roared, and Azula was taking off across the rooftops. She laughed, long and loud, and he took off after her.

"Bringing you to where everyone can see your downfall!" Azula shouted, and it was true enough -- Zuko stopped to steady himself on the rounded rooftops, so wary of falling, and down below he could see the thousands of Fire nation troops and Water tribe legions, and Azula shrieked down at them, "Witness your leader's weakness!" and suddenly many of them were looking up, when they weren't beating back their foes.

Zuko let out an angry growl, absolutely feral with rage, and he lashed forward. The fire that burst from his mouth was unexpected to him, but Azula was prepared. She moved forward to greet it, and she wiped it from the air with a sweep of her arm. He shot forward, the fury clear even with the way he breathed, his chest heaving violently.

Azula ducked under his outstretched arm, and she dropped down, dragging her foot across the ground and sweeping his legs out from under him. He barely managed to stay up, catching his weight on one wrist, and he twisted out of the fall at the last second. He rolled, and Azula rose up above him.

She brought one foot up high, almost level with her shoulders, and she brought it down like an axe. With precision, she smashed him in between the shoulder blades, and he let out a loud hiss of pain as his nose hit the ice.

"Done already?" Azula taunted. She waited, but Zuko felt the crackle of lightning on her fingers, barely feet away. He stayed down, breathing hard, and he lifted his hands to prop himself up.

When he lifted his head, he saw the look on her face, smug and confident, and he couldn't stay down, no matter how his limbs screamed at him. Zuko shoved himself up, and he shot to his feet in a rush of flames.

Azula stepped back, raising her hands in defense, and when he landed on his feet, he brought his hands up, too, ready.

"I don't care if you're a prodigy, or are a master," Zuko replied, "I've beaten masters before without being one, I can do it again."

"You can't," Azula said, with a smile, "you won't kill me until I tell you what really happened to our beloved parents!"

The battle below wasn't raging anymore, in fact, it was mostly spectators, both Water tribe and Fire nation standing side by side in awe, on the same battlefield. And, amongst them, Suki and Sokka looked up with wide eyes.



It had been ten minutes and Aang was still meditating. Iroh and Katara sat in silence, flanking him, watching him. Katara's gaze was fretful, and Iroh's was calm. The woman sat off to the side, by the fire, awake but not exactly alert. Aang swallowed his breath, muscles tensing, and then he opened his eyes.

"I don't know if I can do it," Aang replied.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, worried.

Aang shook his head, and failed to say anything. Iroh looked down at the water, and he said, in that relaxed, mellow voice, "When Azula struck you two months ago, were you killed?"

"Obviously not," Aang replied, frowning.

There was a pause.

"I should rephrase myself – was the Avatar killed?" Iroh asked.

"He can still bend water, and earth," Katara replied. Iroh looked mildly doubtful, and he looked to Aang.

There was a moment of calm reflection, and Aang closed his eyes again. Katara sat up on her knees, straighter, eyes widening, and when Aang didn't reply, she said, worried, "Aang?"

"I dreamt of them while I was knocked out," Aang said, "if the Avatar had died when Azula struck me, then I don't think I would have had all those dreams. I mean, Roku isn't present with me all the time, it's not like I've always felt his presence, but… I think I would know if I lost them."

"Mm," Iroh hummed, "for all our sake's, I hope the Avatar is still alive."

"But how could the Avatar die, if Aang didn't?" Katara replied. Her eyebrows were furrowed. She asked, "How is that even possible?"

Iroh shrugged and he replied, "It's a possibility. We hardly know anything about the Avatar state, those are secrets entrusted to the Avatars alone. No one knows how the Avatar cycle began – the earliest records of an Avatar date back thousands of years, to a Fire nation woman, and even then, we have records of there being Avatars before her. But over thousands of years, who can say how many countless secrets or facts about it have been lost? Very few ancient Avatars have left us personal, written records of their lives or their heritage. Even Avatar Roku failed to pen a memoir before his death."

"But why not?"

"Again, who can say? Perhaps there are hundreds, thousands of Avatars, each with, more or less, a hundred years of history to them. Who could possibly sit down and begin to learn about each and every one of them, much less begin to write it all down? The lessons of every Avatar would keep a million scribes busy for a million years."

"But the big things," Katara replied, "It can't be so hard to just tell people, let the history live on. Why keep everything such a big secret? It's not like they have anything to hide, they're here to keep our world safe."

"Ah, but the history does live on," Iroh replied. He gestured at Aang, and he said, "The continued existence of the Avatar ensures that it does. Every bit of knowledge he needs is there, within his mind. And when the next Avatar comes, all of that will be available to them, too."

Katara didn't reply for a minute, and then she said, "But what's so wrong with telling other people?"

"No offense to any of the Avatars," Iroh said, and he chuckled, "but I'm sure many of them are very boring old men and women, personally. Normal men and women have already recorded all of the important conquests, over the ages. But what the Avatar is, who they are, those will always be secrets."

The two watched Aang for a second.

"I just wish I could understand more," Katara said, "I felt so helpless, when he was knocked out, as if there was nothing I could do. No matter how many times I tried to heal him, he didn't wake up. And I always worried 'What if he never wakes up?' and 'Is it my fault?' and 'Will I be able to help if it happens again?' That still worries me."

"Do not let your limitations hurt you," Iroh replied, and he raised his eyebrows. He shook his head, just slightly, and he said, "Some things are beyond our ability to fix, yes, but there are always ways we can help one another. You protected him; you kept him from harm's way. To keep the Avatar in the Fire nation's territory, and still avoid them, is an admirable feat. It takes a great amount of courage, strength, and love, to endure such a thing."

Katara didn't seem capable of replying. She just flushed red in the face.

"How do you know so much?" Katara replied. She seemed to be humbled, just slightly, and she sat back a bit, leaning her weight on her hands. She said, "You seem to have an answer for everything. Toph, Aang, myself…"

"What can I say," Iroh replied, and he even laughed, just slightly, but it was very sad at the same time. "I've had decades to fill this old mind with thousands of thoughts. Someday you will be too."

Katara smiled, and her eyes flicked to Aang as he began to glow. She breathed a sigh of relief and she clasped her hands over her heart, and she said, "I hope he finds someone who can fix everything."

Iroh nodded, once, slowly, and his smile had faded once more.

"What did you come here for?" Katara asked, then.

Iroh shook his head slowly, and he said, "I came to find my nephew and my niece, and try to set them straight. Either way, that is the promise I made -- I don't believe I will be able to keep it, simply because we are on the wrong side of the war to be speaking with them."

Katara said, "I'm sorry, but... I don't think either of them can be set straight." It felt like there was a marble in her throat, and she couldn't budge it. Iroh was watching her quietly, and Katara said, "They're both horrible people."

The woman said, quietly, "Are they?"

Katara turned, almost surprised at the first sound of the woman's voice, and she found herself looking into weary, golden eyes. She asked, slowly, "Do you know them?"

The woman folded her hands, slowly, and she said, "I'm their mother."



"Azula's fighting Zuko," Suki said, as if in a dream. She paused, full out, and turned her attention up. Sokka had to rush past her with his club to give an oncoming soldier a bash in the head, just to keep him from taking Suki out when she was off her guard.

She snapped into it, and turned to strike down another with her fan and katana. She said, as she did so, "I'm going!"

"What? To them?" Sokka replied, incredulous, and off Suki went: she raced through the snow, against the current of Water tribesmen, and Sokka just took off after her. She was lither, and without a parka she was moving between the tribesmen like loose sand between spread fingers, and Sokka had to fight the current to get back to the palace.

"Suki!" he called, "Suki, Suki!"

She had broken through to the other side, and she was tearing through the empty stretch between the ranks and the palace walls. Sokka brought up endurance and strength and overall advantage from living in this element his entire life, and lifted his feet higher. When he broke the ranks, she was half-way to the palace. He kept going.

"Suki!" he called, "Stop! Suki!"

She didn't even look back, she just kept running, her eyes on Azula and Zuko the entire time, watching the rushes of fire and lightning. Zuko was suffering at a disadvantage, nothing could dislodge Azula from her upper-hand position.

Sokka's imagination was working overdrive: he could so clearly see Suki running ahead of him, but in his mind's eye, he could see her on those rooftops, between Azula and Zuko, taking fire and lightning. He could see her in the prison outside of Ba Sing Se, a limp mass on his back. He could see her sitting on the porch of the hide-away house, crying on his shoulder because of what Azula had done to her.

He couldn't let her get to Azula.

"Suki!" Sokka called.

Suki was within ten feet of the door when Sokka managed to grab her shoulder, and, seeing she wasn't about to stop, he overtook her and forced her to the snow. She yelped as he tackled her down, and he pinned her quite quickly.

"Suki, think about this!" he said, "I don't know if we want to get between that!"

Zuko screamed in rage, and Azula rushed him, scything her foot through the air with a streak of lightning. They were snarling at each other, snapping like wolves, locked in combat, though Sokka couldn't hear a word of what they were saying.

"I have to be the one to kill her," Suki said, "Let go of me, Sokka!" And she fought him. He climbed off of her, but he held onto her as he hauled her to her feet, and she fought him more. He said her name, almost desperate to hang onto her.

Zuko struck two blows at Azula, and Azula actually teetered, her arms windmilling to stay upright, and when she brought her arms up to block a rush of fire, she slid down the curve of the domed roof just slightly. Zuko charged forwards with a kick that almost sent him off the edge when Azula ducked out of the way. She skipped to the next roof.

"I have to be the one to kill her!" Suki repeated, and she swung at him to get him off. Sokka managed to slip his arms around her forearms and pin her arms to her sides, and he went into the snow again, pulling her down into his lap and trapping her there.

"I know!" Sokka said, "I know, but you getting killed is hardly the –– augh –– the WAY –– Suki, STOP fighting me!"

She shoved him off and she snapped, "If you're not going to fight by my side, go join Aang, or Katara! But I'm going, I know my destiny, and if it wasn't to die at Azula's hands then, it isn't now."

Sokka stared at her, for one terrified moment, and he did the same thing he had done weeks ago, to prepare: he took one last cowardly breath, and breached the wall, grabbing Suki and taking her with him as he went.



The castle was breached, and Katara knew it – she could hear the roar of battle outside their door, and she and Iroh moved in unison across the bridges to the door. Iroh slammed his heavy body against the door, trapping it shut.

"What do we do?" Katara said, adopting a battle stance anyway. People were ramming on the other side of the door, and then it stopped.

"They'll be coming in through the walls," Iroh said. "Ice melts, as I'm sure you've noticed. It is very important that we protect not just Aang and Princess Ursa, but Tui and La, as well. Your Highness; we will keep you safe."

Ursa was up on her feet in a seconds, although shakily.

"Yeah," Katara said, and she raced back to Aang. She grabbed his body under the armpits and dragged him to the wall, and gestured to Ursa to follow. Ursa sat down next to Aang, and rapidly, Katara built a funnel of ice around him, so that his cocoon appeared, more or less, to be a part of the wall. She was just making sure there was enough place for air at the top when Iroh gave her warning, and as she raced back, she iced over the pod with a layer of ice so thick she could run across it. Beneath it, the fish were calm still.

Seconds later, the wall to the right of the door went down: it glowed bright red for an instant and then vanished in a cloud of steam, and the firebenders poured in. Iroh moved from the door and raised his hands.

"Death by fire or ice," Katara said, with a determined look, and she plunged right into the battle.



Azula had moved to strike her brother with the same ferocity that she applied to so many others: the Avatar, random girls, old men, and her own father. Zuko could barely move to react, he was so caught off guard. Azula's hand reached, arcing through the air before his face, full of blue flames that twisted and curled, ready to scar.

Zuko was gripped by an immense fear, of that oncoming hand with a ball of white-hot flames, as it moved towards his face. The fear prevented him from moving, prevented him from sliding back, prevented him from doing anything but sitting under Azula's shadow and gritting his teeth to look away.

Azula reached. Zuko started to scream, and she plunged her hand forward. Zuko took what he believed would be his last breath, and then the incredible happened.

He was saved.

A flying knife that shot by her hand, prompting her to withdraw her movement and step back, stopped Azula's strike, prematurely. Azula wheeled around in its direction, and her eyes landed on none other than Mai, standing on the rooftops across the courtyard.

Mai's eyes were narrowed, and her mouth was drawn into a frown. Azula didn't reply for a moment, she merely stared in some sort of horrified anger.

"Mai," Zuko and Azula said in unison, though Azula alone barreled into a livid, "How dare you?"

"Don't touch him," Mai said, in what Zuko could only describe as fury to match even Azula's -- her shoulders squared and her head was held high, and there was none of that skulking gloominess about her. Mai was angry, Mai was proud.

Mai was defending him against _Azula_.

"Changed sides, have you?" Azula asked.

"No," Mai said, "and I shouldn't have to."

"You get in my way, you're against me," Azula replied.

Mai remained calm, but the way her eyebrows knitted, and the way her mouth twisted, they both spoke volumes about how she felt. Zuko barely clicked into the right state of mind to watch the two girls face each other down, and he immediately pulled himself up on his forearms. He started to move away, but Azula put her foot down on the flap of his coat, between his legs.

It was difficult remain honourable and avoid attacking her when she was distracted.

"You have three seconds to pick a side, Mai, or I will pick it for you," Azula said.

Mai didn't say anything, she merely acted: she lifted her wrists, and within moments, she had a winged knife between each finger, ready to launch. Azula smirked.

"I suppose it's chosen, then," Azula said.

The clash came violently, and sudden, and Zuko was released. Azula leapt from one rooftop to another, sliding forward on the ice to jet lightning at Mai, which she deftly dodged. Azula let out a yelp, seconds later, as Zuko was climbing to his feet, rushing to defend his girlfriend.

When Azula turned, he saw her leg was shallowly slashed across one thigh, where a knife had hurtled by. When she moved, the thick fabric of her pants bent out of the way, revealing shock red. He saw her clutch her leg for an instant, and then flick her fingers away, sending droplets of blood flying.

As far as Zuko knew, Azula had never suffered a physical wound quite like that, particularly from her allies. Zuko's eyes met Mai's for an instant, for the first time since she saved him. The corner of her mouth twisted, and then she called out to Azula, "I'm not going to hold back if you won't, but I don't want to fight you."

"Because you're scared?" Azula snarled.

Mai seemed impatient, but so disappointed by this. She said, with a tone that was almost hurt, "No, Azula. Because you're my friend, even if we're just puppets to you."

"Puppets," Azula sneered, "only because you were too naive to look up and recognize your master!"

Zuko moved in, shot fireballs at Azula, but he couldn't quite get her –– Azula danced out of his reach and slid right under another sailing knife, and then she surged right back at Zuko. He hadn't expected it, but he caught her foot before it hit him in the chest, and he pushed her back. Azula flung her weight forward again, immediately, and Zuko swung a fist back at her.

She ducked, slid down to one foot, and Zuko realized there were no more sailing knives. Azula's foot connected with his knee, scalding a hole in his pants, and while it wasn't enough to break the joint, it was enough to stun him backwards.

Zuko slipped on the icy roof, and fell to his stomach, where he slid. He grabbed ahold of the edge of a brick, but just barely –– his legs dangled off the precipice of the dome, twenty feet in the air. He struggled to pull himself up. Azula's foot came down on one of his fingers, and he gasped.

"Calm down, Mai," Azula said, and she pointed two fingers at Zuko, who was barely holding on. His foots, thin-soled, without real grip, scrabbled at the icy block siding desperately. He couldn't see Mai at all. But Azula continued, "I only brought him so that he could die in a military accident, after all. But if you'd like to join him, it could be arranged."

Mai didn't reply, but she was coming closer, Zuko could hear her boots crunching the snow on the rooftops. His fingers strained, his palms felt stretched, and the edge of the roof dug into his armpits, where he couldn't support all his own weight. He tried to lift his lower body up, but Azula's boot was hovering so close to his knuckles that he could feel the cold leather.

"Let him up," Mai said. It was a demand. She came into Zuko's line of view, he could see her keeping her eyes straight on Zuko and without hesitation, and he watched Azula's lips twitch into a smirk.

"Why should I?" she said. "You just attacked me, Mai, some friend you are."

Mai said nothing, but then again, she didn't need to. Azula closed the few feet between them, fist curled, and she delivered a rapid punch to Mai's stomach, right over her diaphragm. Mai slashed one hand up and across her, but that didn't matter. The air around them, crisp with the afternoon, flashed brighter with electric blue flames surging around Azula and Mai, and Mai crumpled.

Zuko saw red, he saw rage, he felt it to his very core. He melted a hole in the roof where his hands were, melted himself a grip of slick wet ice to hold onto, and he lurched over the edge of the roofing, onto his knees. He moved to get to his feet, rushing to kill that horrible, horrible witch.



It took hours for the Fire nation soldiers to break Katara and Iroh's steady pace. Where one lacked, the other compensated, and despite never having fought alongside a firebender, Katara quickly learned where she had to step in and where she had to leave Iroh to his work. Her water was very rapidly reduced to steam and mist, and the hot air purged it from the oasis almost as quickly as it was created. Katara drew ice from the walls, drew water from the snows far above, and, struggling to keep the oasis intact, extinguished rogue flames.

Iroh just laid the bodies down with a firm, fiery hand and a determined look. Sometimes soldiers shouted at him before they did so, but no one paid any heed to their slander.

But there came a point where it was all too much.

Just as Katara froze a soldier's head in a block of ice and sent him toppling over, she heard Aang's voice over the fray, and she turned to see him step out of his ice shield. Katara breathed a sigh of relief, just momentarily thrilled and distracted, but that was all it took for a soldier with a dao to rush her.

Katara saw it out of the corner of her eye, and Aang shouted her name, and he rushed forward, slashing a ribbon of ice in the soldier's direction. However, he had too many paces to go and he slipped on the ice, and even though he caught himself with a gust of air, the attack was misdirected, and it struck elsewhere. Katara opened her mouth, raised her arms to defend herself, but it seemed too late.

She screamed.



Suki's breath came in short stabs, and Sokka's did too –– they raced together, like children, to the inner courtyards. Last one there was a rotten egg. Suki kept ahead of him, light on her feet as always, capable of anything. She could swim in those robes and those boots, she most certainly could manage knee-deep snow.

Sokka was talking, as he ran, but it was a never-ending repetitive stream of "We're-gonna-win-we're-gonna-win-we're-gonna-win!" Suki just kept running, and Sokka's mantra changed to simply "gonna-win!" They raced, and raced.

To one side, there was a blast of fire. Fire nation soldiers had cut through the lines from the South wall, they were pouring past the remaining Water tribe defense-men in small trickles. One cut away from the pack, heading for the same place as Sokka and Suki were, racing and racing and racing. Suki didn't hesitate, she moved right into the man's path, she broke his fingers and twisted his arm so he fell to the snow, and she kept running.

Sokka heard the shoulder joint break.

"Where are they?" Sokka panted as they went under an arch, coming up into a wider courtyard. There his question was answered -- Zuko was dangling off the edge of the roof, and Suki skidded to a halt and looked around, frantically. No one could scale three stories of a flat ice wall.

"A way up, need a way up," she chanted to herself, "a way up, how to get up..."

And Sokka just turned, he pointed, he remembered stealing a brief kiss from Yue in a stairwell off this very courtyard. There it was, tucked behind a short wall of ice, stairs to the second floor, and then down a hall to the third, and then there was a balcony they could climb from...

"I know the way," he said, seizing Suki's arm and dragging her on path.

They ran, they ran like hell.



Zuko was beginning to learn the meaning of underdog. He was beginning to understand what Azula meant, when she had said he was the weakest, and always would be the weakest.

He was forced to his knees, like a dog before its master, with his hair gripped by her bloody hand, dripping red down his forehead. Mai had slashed along Azula's thumb, but it didn't seem to bother Azula, who had immediately sealed it with a drag of her finger along it. She burnt it shut.

Azula commanded, with a voice sultry and low, to purr, "Now beg, Zuko."

"No," he replied, gritting his teeth, and Azula brought her free hand along his chin to force him to look up, forcing him to take his eyes off of Mai, who was spread-eagled on the icy roof. That hand slid up to his forehead.

"I order you to," Azula said.



Toph struggled.

Appa rocked, and the two waterbenders behind her shouted. She heard the crash and boom of trebuchets launching, but then again, hadn't she heard that thousands of times in the past few hours? Her palms were raw and freezing against the cold metal exterior of the ship, and with another deep breath, she held her hands there and pulled outwards. She felt the metal split and fold under the slight pressure, and she heard the lurch of water as the hull split along the seams. Rivets popped all the way down, and she cracked her knuckles and shouted, "Next one!"

She had taken down forty in the past hours, and her fingers felt numb. It was difficult to feel at all, let alone sense the impurities in the metal, and this ship had hardly been cracked at all. She didn't know quite how long it took, but she knew it would probably take at least an evening for enough water to seep through a crack that small to sink the ship.

The first ship, well, it had been split like paper. But that was when she could feel her fingers.

Appa was rocking, and she was clinging to the side of Sokka's makeshift castle, and she felt a fireball whiz by them. Appa lurched upwards, Toph let out an involuntary shriek of surprise, and one of the waterbenders brought up a sheet of ice. She hardly knew what was going on, every moment in the air, but she could feel Appa's great muscles straining under her knees, and the crack of ice and the slosh of water. Fire was much quieter.

Then, there was a scream, and she turned towards the sound. The second waterbender shouted the first's name, and Toph figured one had been lost. Then, instants later, when the second let out a pained scream, Toph knew there was a problem.

"Archers!" the second croaked, and then, before Toph could understand what was going on, his body fell over hers, and she shrieked again.

"APPA, BACK TO THE CITY," she screamed, and Appa turned, almost on a coin. She held on for dear life, the waterbender over her shielding her for protection, and Appa let out pained growls as they flew up, and up, and out of range.



The passage to the roof was through a window and then up two feet, and across the room. A Fire nation soldier rushed them, and Suki took his feet out from under him, and finished him with a stab of her katana. Sokka grabbed the soldier's halberd and kept it, and broke out the thin ice on the window. Suki pushed by him and was out the window first, and she stood on the sill and reached out to the edge above.

"Give me a boost," she hissed. Sokka obliged, and she stepped up onto his offered knee and he pushed her off. She went up, and he scrambled to follow, using the halberd as a pick in the ice.

When Sokka pulled himself up, he saw Azula standing over Zuko, gripping him by the hair. Azula laughed, and her hand flared up in blue flames, twisting in a solid mass. Sokka didn't think twice. He pulled out his boomerang and hurled it at them.

Azula let go of Zuko and the flames dissipated. She had to roll to dodge it, and when she came up on her feet, Zuko was struggling to his own. Sokka leapt to catch his boomerang, and Suki ran to line herself up with Azula's feet. Sokka did the same with Zuko, but Zuko took cautious steps back, raising his hands in defense. Sokka's eyebrows lifted when Zuko turned to face Azula, too.

And then it was the four of them: Azula with her hands up, ready to strike, Suki, brilliant greens against all the ice blues and dark reds, Zuko with his wicked anger, and Sokka. Sokka was terrified but so steeled, Sokka was wary, Sokka had the halberd in his hands, and he steeled himself against the roof.

Azula's eyes drifted from Zuko, her concentration broken, and her eyes fell on Suki. Her eyes widened, and she let out a guttural snarl of, "_You_!"

"Me," Suki replied. "Ready for a rematch?"

"Rematch?" Azula snorted, "You're asking to be broken again, Miss Leader."

"I don't know about that," Suki shot back, "I'm ready for you this time, and I'm pretty sure I have an advantage."

"My," Azula said, "someone's gotten bold. It was only months ago that you were on your hands and knees begging for mercy!"

"I never did that!" Suki shouted, and Sokka was wary immediately, the second that Azula's smile widened at Suki's reaction. There was the slightest bit of indecision before he decided that Azula was lying to get a reaction. Before he could step between them, Suki continued, "I wouldn't beg you for anything!"

"Are you calling me a liar?" Azula said. Her voice was crisp and calm, and the flames in her hands flickered and swayed in the cold air. Her smirk twitched up, and she said, "Because I seem to recall at least a few moments were you lost all reason and panicked. Much like this fool, here."

Zuko steeled himself, immediately, and Sokka glanced between the siblings rapidly. He was terrified of taking his eyes off Azula, in case she attacked, but as the seconds passed, he felt his adrenaline overtaking the fear. The fear ebbed away, like the tide and the moon, while the sheer desire to fight kicked in.

"Not going to deny it, Zuzu?" Azula said.

"No," Zuko replied, and his eyes flickered down in shame, but then they locked on Azula again. He said, infuriated, "but we all have moments of weakness."

Suki hadn't taken her eyes off Azula for an instant, but she tilted her head just slightly in Zuko's direction. Sokka watched Azula follow this movement, and when she opened her mouth to goad them more, Sokka snarled, "We're not here to talk. We're here to bring down our enemy!"

Azula brought her hands back, as if prepared to launch the flames, and she said, "Well, then, let's begin with _you_."

Sokka was on the move in an instant, raising the halberd and flinging the point up in the air to launch it at Azula. Suki surged forward, too, and Zuko, sluggishly, took up the rear. Sokka was just about to drive the point of the halberd into Azula when she whipped the flames forward in a vicious white-blue arc, and Sokka had to clumsily stumble to the side to avoid it.

Zuko grabbed Suki by the forearm and redirected her to the side. The bolt struck ice, making it glow for an instant, before it exploded in a cloud of steam. Sokka struggled to keep his jaw from dropping surprise, but he felt no terror, even as he saw how close it came to roasting Suki.

But there was no time to consider any of that. Suki was back on track, having been released, and Zuko was bringing up a whip of flames from the opposite direction. Azula, scissored in the middle, opted to bend her way out, seizing the fire and twisting it around her with an elaborate twist of her arms, before punching it in Suki's direction. Like a dangerous game of monkey-in-the-middle, Zuko rushed to catch it and redirect it before Suki was struck.

Suki seemed infuriated by this show of protection, and the instant she was in the clear, she took her chance to get Azula: she lifted her katana, brandished it in a wide arc, and aimed to slash Azula across the chest. Azula only barely escaped, virtue of her superior agility. But her landing was poor, and she, too, had to scrabble for grip on the ice. Suki dared give a victorious smirk, and Azula let out an irritated scowl.

"Close call?" Suki taunted, as Azula breathed hard. "Or are you injured already? Ribs still getting to you?"

"Brat," Azula hissed, and she moved to the side as Sokka thrust the halberd forward. Suki crowded her from the other side, prompting Azula to take to the air to leap over the attack, but when she landed, her breath was near ragged.

It was obvious Azula was under the weather, and a glance at Zuko almost confirmed it. Sokka realized that the two must have gone to great lengths to avoid the defence, just to get within the walls of the city, let alone to be on the roof of its capital building. Azula was bleeding, leaving little coin-sized drips all over the ice, and the roar of battle all around them was deafening.

"We have to finish this fast," Zuko snapped at Sokka, as Suki stepped forward to take the lead of the offense. Azula was duelling her with great arcs of lightning, and Suki was fending it off with slashes of her katana, great swipes of her fan that distorted the blast and. The metal was glowing white-hot and steaming, and Sokka could see the heat waves rippling off of it. Azula struck again, with such ferocity that the lightning warped the blade of the katana.

"No kidding," he said, curtly, and Zuko snatched a fireball from Azula's hands before she could throw it. He warped it, redirected it out of the way, the blue flames turning red the second it went under his control.

And then, suddenly, Suki had Azula again, and Suki drove the sword forward. Azula barely escaped intact, though the heated blade seared her clothing near her hip, and she stumbled. Suki kept going, and Azula kept dodging, having great difficulty. The ice under their feet was melting with all the heat, and it was slick with water. Sokka desperately wanted to help, but Suki left him to room to join them, and Azula was too fast for him to pin down with the halberd without putting Suki at risk, too. Zuko kept at the fire, but Azula easily avoided him. She ignored him, even.

Sokka was counting the minutes, well-aware that the difference between two seconds and one minute could spell their victory or their loss. All it took was a two-second slip-up to turn the tables violently in Azula's favour.

And then Suki slipped on the ice, landing on her hip and elbow, and Azula moved in to deal a killing blow.



_Sokka went through the movements without thinking. He knew them by heart, now: step, pivot, block to the right. Step, step, pause, block up. Step, pivot. Block. With that down pat, he could let his mind wander. He thought about how heavy and uncomfortable all these rigid layers of fabric were on his shoulders. He thought about how the make-up (or, as Suki reminded him constantly, warpaint) was sticky on him, and every drop of sweat was tainted milky white or pink, while the girls wore it like a second skin. They didn't break a sweat at all, and it wasn't for lack of effort._

_The girl in front of him pivoted, at the same time as he did, and the collar of her kimono shifted against the nape of her neck. For an instant, he saw the bare flesh of any of these girls, pale and creamy. The slightest of smiles curled on his lips, imagining what the rest of it was like, and just as he was moving into the next sequence, Suki took him off his feet._

_He was so unattached from his body's routine movements that Suki accurately predicted what he would do next, and as a result, she knew exactly how to take him down. Sokka found himself sitting on the floor, on his hands and knees, and Suki was looking down at him with obvious disapproval._

_"If you're not going to take this seriously, get out," Suki ordered._

_"I am," he protested._

_"You aren't," Suki snapped. _

_Sokka started to argue, but he really wanted to learn, so he snapped back, "Fine, I wasn't. I'm not learning anything about teamwork, I'm just learning how to do routine, which I'm APPARENTLY not supposed to do in battle anyway!"_

_"You have to learn the moves before you can use them," Suki said, "and learning takes repetition. Pay attention to what you're doing. Consciously know what you are doing, even if you've done it a thousand times. Idiot."_

_Suki was a tyrant, and Sokka climbed to his feet angrily, and he poked her in the chest. She didn't move back or even try to block him, she just took it. He said, sharply, "Look here, Know-It-All. If you explained that to me in the first place, we wouldn't be having this argument."_

_Suki scoffed, rolled her eyes and paused. She didn't say anything, and he waited for her to reply. He folded his arms, shifted his weight to his other foot, and Suki got this incredible look on her face. It was inexplicable, but Sokka knew, immediately, that it didn't bode well for him._

_"Alright," she said, slowly, "teach me to fight. Sokka-style."_

_He stared. A smirk spread on her face, red lips curved all wicked-like and sarcastic. She waited, and he trailed, "uh." What could he show her? What could he possibly show her?_

_"I'm waiting," she informed him._

_"Well, it's a mindset, not a skill," he said, determined, "you give it all you have, you don't waste time thinking about the art of it or how to best protect yourself in the process. You just give it all you've got. If you get hit once or twice, who cares? You just hit 'em back that much harder."_

_"And if that 'once or twice' leaves you wounded or hindered?" Suki said, loftily._

_"You fight to the death," Sokka said, confidently._

_"Alright," Suki said, "someday you'll see that that sort of thought is best left as an idea, not reality. But until then, class dismissed. See you all in the morning."_

_Sokka scowled at her, irritated by how condescending she could be, and he turned to go. Suki said, "Where are you going?" and he turned back, confused. She was watching him with bright blue eyes, or maybe they just seemed blue in the light. She said, "You and I still have private dance lessons tonight, if you're still interested in the Kyoshi way."_

_"Right," Sokka replied, dismissively, though he stayed. "Safer but more time consuming."_



Sokka wasn't thinking at all with any intelligent part of his brain when he did it. In fact, he likely wasn't thinking with even the stupid parts of his brain – his lunge was so gut-driven and impulsive that it seemed to anyone else that he hadn't considered at all the implications of it, reaching in with the halberd and putting it between Suki and Azula.

But he knew wood didn't conduct electricity and it was a bet better taken than passed, because, after all, Suki's life was on the line. He had to stop that lightning if it was the last thing he did.

The lightning was caught on the blade, and in the last instants of his memory, Sokka could recall the split instant of joy as the blade shone blue, marking his success. However, what he didn't recall, instants later, was how the wood handle rattled with the energy and burst, and the remainder of the electric charge jumped directly into his hand, down his arm, and coursed right down his body.

The last thing he saw was Azula's crazy face, with a triumphant shriek of laughter. When he fell, he fell against Suki.



Katara wasn't sure of what had happened, when she opened her eyes.

She was on the ground, and Aang was kneeling over her, and Iroh was slumped by her side. When she looked down at herself, she realized her clothes were very singed, and her head hurt, though when she brought her hand there, she felt no external wound. She looked up at Aang, expectantly, as she rushed to lean over Iroh and see if he was all right. Ursa sat over him, face inexplicably blank. She was holding Iroh's hands with her own.

When Katara got closer and focused her attention, she realized that he was dead.

"He saved us," Aang said, mournful, and she realized he was holding her hand. Katara felt the tears well in her eyes.

"How…?"

"I don't know," Aang sighed, angry and broken all at once. "I didn't see, I was busy trying to fend off some of the soldiers and he stepped between us, and…"

He trailed off there. Katara pursed her lips, hard, to keep from making a single noise, though the tears were streaming down her cheeks by then. Aang looked away. After a moment, Katara found her strength and resolve, within her, and she forced herself to look ahead.

"What's going on outside?" she asked. Her voice was an unsteady croak.

"I don't know, but the soldiers have stopped coming and we're not surrounded, so I think something big might have happened," Aang said, "They only stopped coming a few minutes ago, they ran off. I've been defending you since you were hit."

Katara reached over and closed Iroh's eyes, a chill going down her spine, and then she nodded and looked at Ursa. Ursa replied, quietly, "I'll take care of him." Katara reluctantly nodded, and then turned to Aang.

"We'd better go check it out," she said.

Aang nodded, his determination rising once again, and he took her hands to help her up. When he pulled her to her feet, her toes over his, her face came so close to his that she had to step back, out of respect, but not until Aang had pressed a brief, flighty kiss on her lips, one that lasted barely a second.

"Let's go," he said, as if it was nothing.

Katara opened her mouth to say something, but she couldn't – Aang still had her hand and he moved to run, and she just followed, overwhelmed by the past year, one more death lingering over her head.

"Yeah," she breathed.



The Earth kingdom girl screamed and Azula slid on the ice towards her. Azula was laughing, laughing hysterically, and Zuko gave in. He gave in to desperation and he seized the hilt of one of his swords, from under his coat. He pulled it out, then pulled the other out, and before Azula could even finish gathering the static energy from the air, he was behind her.

Azula's eyes shot open, and she scarcely had the moment to breathe before Zuko plunged the weight forward, the blade slipping through her skin with a sickening slice. Azula's expression froze, her pupils dilating so much almost all the gold became black. She let out a whine of pain, and rightly so.

Zuko let out a long breath, and Azula shuddered in front of him, her jaw twitching to clench and then slacking again. Her entire body became rigid, and she braced herself, and he held her up with one hand, almost as shaky as she was.

"This," Zuko said, loudly, "is for everyone." His voice shook when he spoke.

"Well, Zu-zu," Azula said, calmly, though there was a distinct strain in her voice, like she was having trouble getting it out. Her lungs would be giving out on her soon, anyway, and Zuko just held her upright.

If he pulled the broadsword out, she'd bleed out faster. He was torn between ruthless cruelty and taking pity on her. Maybe he didn't want to hear her voice ever again, but in some way, maybe even Azula deserved a bit of humanity bestowed upon her.

This wasn't how he had wanted it to end, he had preferred to see her shamed under a defeat and calmed, placed in the background like a harmless doll, but that other part of him nagged him. Azula would never be shamed, never be calmed, and she would never play the part of a harmless doll.

So she simply had to die.

"I'm not sorry," Zuko said, his voice cracking in fear. He'd felt blood on his hands many times before, and it had disgusted him every time. This time, Azula's blood flowed so thick it was nearly black, along the ridge of the blade and onto the hilt, where it pooled in the crevices and hollows of his hand.

"You will be," Azula replied, and she let out a noise he'd never imagined from her lips, choked. A bubble of blood burst against her lips and it trickled from the corners of her mouth, with every strained breath.

"No," he said, and then her weight grew heavier on the end of his sword. It took a moment for him to accommodate it, and she hung there, but her legs remained braced.

When he felt pressure from the other end of the sword, he tensed and tried to keep it steady, but no. Azula, with her dying strength, had grabbed it and was pushing it out of her, with the smirk on her lips dying but not dead quite yet. Zuko instinctively drove forward and she let out a hiss of pain, and the gruesome tug-of-war did not continue.

"Oh," she said, "Long live… Fire Lady Azula…"

Her eyes rolled up into her head, and when Azula died, Zuko retracted the blade a bit and let her slump to the roof. Her body crumpled, and the blood pooled on the ice in large puddles, enough that Zuko had to step back to avoid stepping in it.

He looked at his hands, feeling disgusted and worried all at once. The wicked witch of the west was dead, and Zuko released the hilt, so the sword clanged to the ground. Her body twitched, and for an instant, he thought that maybe he had failed, but he soon realized he was wrong. He'd seen death before. The body had spasms. The mind died before the body.

Somehow, his good eye glazed over with tears. He wasn't even sure why, but his heart was beating so fast he thought it would burst in his chest. His mind started making up mantras, saying them over and over again, to assure him he had just done the right thing by slaying her.

This was to save them all, after all.

He let out a long breath, sheathed the blade, and turned to look at the masses below. Many continued to fight, but so many thousands were looking up in mixed expressions -- awe, horror, shock. Zuko could do nothing but stare down at them, terrified at her own power. Azula's body slid down the dome of the roof and right off, dropping off the edge. Zuko turned as it did, and he rushed to the edge, after her body. It had landed in the oasis with a crumpled splash, and he could see the tiny outlines of red people rushing to the water. The water was turning pink.

He turned again, and stared at the Earth kingdom girl and that Water tribe girl's brother. The girl was cradling the boy across her lap, and she was tear-streaked, too. Her eyes continually darted between the boy and where Azula's body had fallen off the edge, and then she held Zuko's gaze for a moment.

"You killed her," the girl said, in a melange of emotions: Zuko felt the sadness, the anger, the joy, the frustration, everything. Zuko could only stare at her, for a moment, and breathe the only thing he could possibly say:

"Yeah. I killed her."

There, Zuko fell to his knees, and he fell right out of consciousness, and his body pitched to the ground, and rolled off the roof, right after his sister.


	11. Dualism

Oh my god this has been such an amazing ride! I hope all of you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have had fun writing this, because I've been having the time of my life. 

And, because it wouldn't be _Avatar_ fic without a resolution, here's the finale, the last chapter, the final hurrah. Thank you, thank you, thank you times one million for reading all 210,000 words of this, thank you for spending your time on this humble fic, thank you for reviewing and complimenting and helping me grow as a writer. Even if I have written this for my own amusement, it means everything to me that, perhaps, I have entertained others. It means the world.

I look forward to seeing you on my next project, whenever that may be!



**CHAPTER ELEVEN: DUALISM**



Princess Yue was still as flawless and gorgeous as she ever had been.

Sokka approached her, slowly, unable to take his eyes off her, but he knew where he was, vaguely. He was in some expansive white stretch of nothingness, and that didn't seem to surprise him at all. The air around her was vaguely purple, soft and delicate, in mists around her almond skin and shock white hair. Her lips were curved into a soft smile, and the folds of her dress and the trails of ribbons floated about her, delicate, with only the subtle grace of gravity to hold them around her.

The entire place, beautiful and white and so incredibly pristine, it was heavenly and beyond simple humanity. His head was an unending whirr of thoughts and memories. Nothing in his body hurt.

"I'm dead, aren't I?" Sokka asked. Yue only glanced to the side, and Sokka followed her glance. He saw nothing, just white expanses, a void where there was nothing but Yue and her beautiful light.

Yue said, "She's trying to resuscitate you. We have a moment."

So she was. Sokka felt Suki breathing air into his lungs, his beating heart was only beating because her hands were pumping his chest. He brought a hand to his chest, and felt the pressure, but it did not hurt.

He still felt so terribly earthbound, then, and then he laughed and said, "Sure feels like it. Somehow, I figured death would be a lot more comfortable, not some big empty white room, but I'm sure I can deal."

If felt funny that the moon should be in a place so surrounded by light, when she was imprisoned by the darkness every night. But then again, what did Sokka know about the spirit world? 

Princess Yue said, smilingly, "You're so funny, Sokka." She lifted her hands and reached them out, and Sokka took them. He squeezed her hands, and they were light, so light if felt as if he were holding on to something precious and breakable. She just smiled at him. She felt cold, but the fact that he could feel her alone was enough to calm him.

"So if I'm dead, or dying, and Suki's trying to save me," Sokka said, and he paused, out of sadness, and then said, "What about Katara? Aang? Toph? Dad?"

"They're all fine," Yue said, dismissively, and she said, gently, "You'll live yet. Think of this as... a dream."

"I'm dreaming?" Sokka repeated, and then he frowned. He was disappointed, somehow, with Yue's hands here in his, but then he smiled. So he wouldn't have to leave his family behind, after all. Sokka shook his head and then he looked at her, unblinking. Seriously, almost with reluctance, he asked, "Are you really here, or am I making this up on my own?"

"I'm really here," Yue replied, "I've always been with you, you know. I told you I would be."

"I know," Sokka said. He let go of one hand to reach up and cup her face, and she leaned into his touch, so friendly and beautiful in his hands. She drew herself closer, and Sokka said, "None of my other dreams were this... intense. I feel like I can control this one."

"Lucid dreaming," Yue replied, calmly. "But you've dreamt of me many times."

"I have," he admitted. He looked down, his eyes settling down between them, and he said, "I've... missed you. It's been... it's been six months now, and so much has happened."

"I know," Yue said, hushed. "I know."

She didn't say she had missed him too, and he wondered why, but it came to him quite quickly: Yue was with him, and Yue was the moon. She had thousands and thousands of stars to accompany her, everywhere. How could she possibly be alone?

Sokka paused, and trailed, "I..."

The tears slipped. He couldn't help it. They slipped down his face and he let go of her hand and her face, and he just stared at her helplessly. His hands fell to his sides, and he fell to his knees, at her feet, and he could only grasp at the hem of her dress and cry there, helplessly.

"I..." he choked out, "Yue, I... I failed you..."

She shushed him, and reached down to stroke his hair. She offered her other hand to take his and pull him to his feet, but he just took it and cried still, and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, and cried still. He'd never cried like this before.

"It's okay, Sokka," Yue said, delicately, "I never blamed you. Not once."

"You should," he retorted, utterly ruined. His throat hitched, his heart burned, his lungs felt as though they were shriveling up. He said, hiccuping, "I... don't deserve this."

Yue laughed, a little, and she drew his face up to look at her eyes, with one gentle hand. He sniffled, feeling utterly pathetic, and she paused for a beat while he tried to compose himself. Then, she said, "Oh, Sokka, love." 

His tears rolled for a bit longer, but they were impossible to stop entirely. He choked out, "Yue, I failed, and then... and now Suki... and I hate it, I really do, I miss you but everything, and I love her, and..."

He wasn't making sense, and Yue pressed a kiss to his forehead. He wiped away the tears, one hand still holding hers, and he felt so unconditionally at peace, there at her feet. She said, lovingly as always, "Sokka, I love you, and I'll always love you, but I am the moon, and you have life in you yet."

"Damn," he replied, choked out in some sort of teasing-yet-so-serious tone.

When he just brushed away some last tears and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, she added, so gently, "And there's life in those that love you, Sokka, you can't leave them for me."

"When I manage to die properly," Sokka replied, "you'll be there, right?"

Yue smiled, sadly, and she tilted her head just slightly. She said, sensitive and adoring, "I will be. You could choose to stay here, now, but I want you to live and love and live some more. Suki loves you too, you know, you can't leave her for the moon."

"Alright," Sokka said, and then added, "How long can I stay here with you?"

"As long as you want," Yue said, simply, "but you have to go back to your world sooner or later. Your heart is beating. All you have to do is... wake up."

Sokka nodded, rather soberly, and he looked to the side, managing to tear his eyes away from her. He looked off into the empty white, and he understood: he knew that Suki was crying over him, he could hear it, and the more he strained to hear, the more he knew what was happening there. At any instant, he could teeter over the edge and tumble out of this unconsciousness, this state of bliss with Princess Yue.

He turned back to her, with his eyes scrunched up to hold back more tears, and his hands clammy. He held onto her hand with both hands, like a child, and he felt so ridiculously small, kneeling before her, even if he was considerably bigger than her. 

Sokka looked at her, straight in the eyes, and she stared back. She smiled, and he put on one, too.

"I love you, Yue," he said.

"I love you too," she said.

Yue pressed another kiss to his forehead, her palm slipping from his cheek. Her hand slipped from his, and she faded away, until nothing was left but her shocking blue eyes.

And then, with one last sad blink and maybe even the well of ghostly tears, those were gone, too, and Sokka was sitting bolt upright in Suki's arms, gasping and wiping away his own tears.



"I thought you were dead," Suki said, barely above a whisper. She had been crying, too, though presently, there were no fresh tears. She was just relieved, stunned, so grateful, and she ran a hand over the top of his head with a smile. Her face was so close he could feel her breath against his mouth, and he just kissed her, to which she pulled back, still so stunned.

"I'm alive," Sokka breathed.

"When Zuko redirected the lightning and it hit you, I thought you were dead for sure," Suki said. "I thought you were a goner. Just... agh."

She leant her forehead against his, breathing hard still, and then he said, "Wait, what happened to Zuko and Azula?"

Suki pulled back, she pointed over the edge of the roof, and Sokka craned his neck. His eyes traced the blood stains.

Down below, towards the shore, the shouts and screams of thousands were sounding out, and Sokka realized that despite this noise, not a single man was fighting. Armies were pulling back and away as whole units, he could see them moving like ants over the snow.



Zuko was alone.

He was bleary-eyed, alone, and he felt like his limbs were being pinched beneath the skin, like a newly healed cut struggling to fuse itself closed again. He was naked from the waist up, and even then, he was only wearing loose trousers underneath, with one leg cut off. He sat up, confused, and he pushed down the fur blankets around him to inspect his leg.

It looked fine, but it stung badly. He tested it, by pressing down on his thigh with his fingertips. He winced.

"Don't you dare reopen any wounds I just closed," a voice said, and Zuko turned around. Behind him was an open door, and in the frame was a pretty girl he recognized.

"It's you," he said, more surprised than offended. He tried to remember her name, and then got it: "Kya?"

"Try _Katara_," she said, sharply, "You know, I'd expect you to remember the names of the people you hurt, but I guess that'd be asking you to remember far too many names, right? Kya is my _mother."_

"My apologies, Katara," Zuko said, and then, when she didn't stop glowering, he said, almost at a ramble, "I apologize for everything I've ever done to you, to your friends, to the Avatar. Things... have changed since then."

"Last time you said that, I wound up spending two months trying to keep Aang alive," Katara snapped. "You do know who _Aang_ is, right? The Avatar you're so obsessed with?"

Zuko started to reply, whatever came to mind about making amends, but Katara wasn't done. She dropped to her knees beside him, put a firm hand on his shoulder and pushed him into laying back, and with her other hand, she ran her fingertips along the juncture of his shoulder and his arm, testing the flesh. It stung. 

She said as she checked him over, "And to think I'm healing you, that I spent my time on your sister's stupid friends, and you. There are hundreds, thousands, of people who need my help, and I stop to waste my time on you. Honestly! Someone who's a backstabber, a liar, and turncoat! But don't you dare think about turning on me again, you're in enemy captivity now! And if you try anything, we've got your girlfriend, too!" 

"So why are you healing me, then?" Zuko said, almost incredulous, as relieved as he was that Mai was alright. Katara prodded his elbow a bit too hard, he grit his teeth.

"Because," she said, so tired and exhausted from all the work she'd obviously been doing that her cheeks were shock-pink and her brow was slick with sweat. "Because if you die, I have no one to slap around later."

"Well, that's fine. I deserve it," Zuko replied.

"Talking like that isn't going to make me believe you're in it for the greater good," Katara snapped. Zuko frowned, growing frustrated, though he understood why she was so testy. To say he'd been a complete pain in the neck was an understatement.

He said, "May I speak to the Ava–– er, Aang?" The name felt foreign on his tongue.

"No," she said, annoyed. "He's busy right now, he's packing your army up and sending them back home. He's sending messages to every living leader figure in the world. He's talking with Chief Arnook, setting up relief for the entire Earth kingdom. He's trying to calm the Fire nation, which you left, by the way, in a horrible wreck. I don't think he'll ever want to talk to you."

"I'm the Fire Lord," Zuko said, "I hate to upset you, Katara, but he'll want to talk to me at some point."

Katara was stubbornly silent. She unwrapped his bandages. She rewrapped them, freshly, and Zuko said, "If you hate me that much, you could have just let me die."

"I'm not like you," Katara said, irked. "I could never do that."

"I've never left anyone to die," Zuko said.

Katara didn't reply. She just angrily kept on re-bandaging him, and when she finished, she sat back on her heels and stared at him long and hard. When she said nothing, he just stared back at her, and he said, "Go ahead, then. Slap me."

For some reason, Katara said, "No thanks." She looked off to the side suddenly, avoiding his eyes, and her anger was still palpable, but suddenly, something else was there.

"Why not?"

"Look," Katara said, "your Uncle died protecting Aang and I last night. Your mother's here, too, but she's very ill. We can worry about slapping later."

Zuko stared, stunned, and she looked like a deer in the headlights until he let out a shudder of a breath and rested back on his elbows. He stared at her, and she avoided him. She left, hurriedly, and Zuko didn't know what to do with himself.



When Zuko was well enough to move, after a brief healing session, he was on his feet immediately. His joints felt stiff, and rightly so, and the early signs of a cold were settling in, but he hardly noticed. His mother. His _mother_ was here. He didn't even knock when he was brought to the door. He just opened it.

In the dim ship light, he could see his mother. Her back was to him, and there were two blanketed figures laid out on beds. The one against the wall was much larger, and Zuko felt his stomach sink into his gut and his eyes well, knowing exactly who it was. But the closer one – the one his mother was leaning into – had the sheet pulled down. 

Azula's body.

His mother turned, hand on Azula's forehead, and she was already tear-streaked when her eyes landed on Zuko. Zuko felt his breath escape his lungs, staring at his mother. It had been five years and she looked like she had aged three times that. Her hair, once so elegant and fine, was pulled into a simple low ponytail, and her gold eyes were dark under her eyelashes. 

She looked away from him, with a pained breath, and looked at Azula. In the torchlights, he could see Azula's skin was shock white, her angular features so striking against her dark hair. There was no life there at all, but Zuko almost expected her to sit up and kill them all.

Fear lived on, regardless of its creator. 

He watched his mother stroke Azula's forehead and cry, and he wanted to tell her to stop, to get away from her, in case her poison still existed. Azula's hands, folded over her stomach, hadn't been cleaned of blood, and her nails still seemed deadly sharp.

"Mom," he choked, stunned by her presence.

She sat back, covering her face with her hands, and Zuko fell to his knees in front of her. With his head on her lap, he cried, and felt her arms go around him.

He'd never felt weaker –– or stronger –– in his entire life.



It was the most humble thing Zuko had done in his life. Over the years, he had broken laws, he had been exiled, he had been shamed. He had sacrificed his secret identity, he had sacrificed his real identity, he had fought for others and for himself. He had eaten stolen scraps and begged.

But nothing was as humble as going to his knees before the Avatar, a mere thirteen year old boy, and saying, "On behalf of the Fire nation, I beg for your forgiveness, for all my personal wrongs, and hope we can right all the wrongs committed in the past hundreds of years by my family."

The Avatar – or Aang, as he was supposed to be called, but Zuko was finding it hard to think of him as a young boy named Aang, and not simply the _Avatar_ – just stared down at him, blankly, with big grey eyes. Zuko didn't lift his head. He kept down, on his knees, while the Avatar stared.

And then he smiled, and said, "So everything's going to be perfect from now on?" He sounded excited.

"Yes," Zuko said. It wasn't really a realistic thought, but it would be eventually.

"Great!" Aang replied, and he knelt down to Zuko's level. He put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, and Zuko lifted his head. Aang said, "We'll be friends now, right? Like Sozin and Roku in reverse. Better."

Zuko stared, taken a bit aback, and Katara and Toph were laughing, and he just replied, stunned, "Yeah. Friends."

_Friends._



Sokka was awake after twelve hours, and the second he was, Suki was _right there_, by his side. In fact, she was next to him, curled up in a sleeping bag, writing something. He stirred, groaned, sat up, and she launched herself on him with wild abandon, minding his bandaged hand but still recklessly overjoyed.

"You took that hit for me, I was sure you were going to die," Suki rambled, and she was clinging to him so tightly that he was positive he was going to die by suffocation. "Or at least, be out for weeks and weeks and weeks, oh for the love of Avatar Kyoshi, I thought…"

"Woah," Sokka choked out, unable to move because her arms were locked around his neck and her lips were kissing his forehead over and over again, and her bosom was quite snugly pressed up against his chest. Not that he could complain, but he would have liked to breathe.

"Never, _never_ take direct hits like that, Sokka, oh, you big stupid idiot I love you but never, ever do that again, _for the_—"

"Suki!" Sokka laughed, outright, against her neck, and she released him just slightly to hold him back.

"You dumbass!" she huffed, and he rolled his eyes at her and laughed again.

"I'm okay, really," he said, and then he paused, and grinned, "We won, didn't we? No way anyone who'd lost would be so overjoyed, unless you REALLY missed me, huh?"

"No one won," Suki reminded him, but her smile was huge, so huge. She said, cheerily, "The Fire nation is down, Zuko's co-operating, and tomorrow is the first day of peace in over a hundred years!"

Sokka laughed, and then he said, "And tonight's the comet! Let's watch it together."

"Yeah," Suki agreed, and she kissed him full on the mouth. Appropriately, Hakoda, Katara and Aang came in at the same time.

"The message is being sent across the Fire nation, now. It's official," Hakoda said, "Azula _is_ dead, and Fire Lord Zuko has surrendered."

Sokka put his arm around Suki and snuggled her to his chest, fully aware of how _weird_ it was to do that in front of his sister and dad, and Suki just lay there in his arms, looking up at him oddly. Hakoda, Katara and Aang seemed to keep their eyes off the fact that Sokka had Suki laying like that with him. He replied, "So Azula is dead."

It was very sobering.

"Yeah," Suki replied, almost hollow, all of the sudden. "Azula... is dead."

Sokka repeated, "Azula is dead."

Katara looked between them, bemused.

"Suki?" Sokka said, and she lifted a hand to wipe her eyes before she started tearing up too much. She stayed calm, and when she pulled her hand away, she accidently smudged her make-up, which was already all over the place. He reached over and fixed it with his thumb, and she gave an odd smile.

"I'm alright, Sokka," she replied, "She's finally dead."

"Hey? What? No," Sokka protested, blinking rapidly because his eyes felt teary, too. "You can be upset if you want to, it's okay, I'm man enough to cry with you, and all. Just... no. And yes. I don't know what I should say, okay?"

"Then don't say anything," Suki said. "Like I just said... she's finally dead. Everything really is in the past now."

Sokka hushed up, immediately, and he reached up to roughly rub one eye with the back of his hand, almost mad that he was getting all emotional anyway -- Azula was dead, why be all teary over that? Suki sighed, and she pressed her face against his neck, so that her nose squashed against his skin, and he just sighed right back at her and held her tight.

"Kyoshi didn't teach us to be vengeful," Suki replied, as if he had been a Kyoshi warrior all his life, as if he was just getting a reminder. "I'm glad it's done."

Her voice sounded funny against his neck, but he figured his was just as dumb, muffled against her hood. She was standing with the balls of her feet on the toes of his boots, and it was an uncomfortable yet friendly position to be in, with the lengths of their bodies together, even with the coats between them.

"Hey, it made you want to pick up your fans and kick my ass around the place a lot," Sokka replied, "you're a warrior again."

"True."



Zuko bowed his head, curtly, and he said, "We were never formally introduced. My name is Zuko. I'm the Fire Lord."

Suki regarded the boy with some sort of cool look, her eyebrows drawn into straight lines, her teeth clenched just slightly. It gave her a pinched look. She didn't really want to acknowledge him. She said, "Last time I saw you up close like this, you had just attacked me with your war rhino."

"I apologize for that," Zuko said, and he had an odd pause, and then he bowed so low his torso was making a right angle with his legs. Suki was stunned by this gesture, rather, and wondered if Zuko was just overdoing it a bit too much. But no, he went and did what Suki expected least. He said, seriously, "And for everything my sister's done to you. I know actions speak louder than words, and it's impossible for me to apologize for what she's done through words alone, but... I hope you can accept my apology, not her for actions, but for my cowardice to stop her."

"How could you possibly have stopped her?" Suki said. Her walls came up. She didn't like this sort of blame-game, this sort of assumed fault. Suspiciously, she added, "I don't understand." 

Zuko seemed to hesitate. He said, "She spoke of you quite a few times... visited you once with me there. She came back with a bloodied lip...? I could have done something then."

Suki froze, she didn't seem able to put together a reply to that. That was so terribly awkward, and she half-heartedly wanted to accuse him of it and not forgive him. But when she glanced at Sokka, who was looking at Zuko with some sort of murderous look, she just said, "Stand up straight."

Zuko did so, and face to face, Suki said, "Look, I'm not going to accept your apology for the same reason I don't want to acknowledge any of Sokka's. It wasn't your fault. And I'm not going to believe it was my fault anymore, I accept it wasn't my own weakness."

She paused, and then she said, "I should thank you for killing her. The fault lies, entirely, with her. Though I'd've liked to hear an apology from her, that's impossible now."

"Azula never apologized for a single action in her entire life," Zuko replied, "Death is the only way to stop her."

Suki nodded, and then she bowed her head, a short, curt little action. She glanced at Sokka, and then said to Zuko, "Sokka's going to mind, but I'm going to invite you anyway. Coming to dinner with us?"

Sokka did, indeed, make a noise of protest. Zuko glanced at Sokka, and then back to Suki, and he said, "Perhaps I should decline. I have to find out if I can see Mai, and I probably should speak with Ty Lee, too..."

"Mm," Suki murmured. She nodded, and said, "They can come, too."

"Suki," Sokka protested, and Suki cupped his cheek with one hand. He stopped there, and gave an odd smile.

She said, logically, "Shh, I'm fostering peace between the nations."

"That's the Avatar's job," Sokka said. He glanced at Zuko, lifting his own arm to pull Suki close, and he said, defensively, "I don't care how many times he gets on his knees and begs for forgiveness, I'm excellent at bearing grudges."

"Everyone has to work on peace," Zuko said, defensively, "And what did I ever do to you, specifically, anyway?"

"Hey," Sokka said, sharply, "_hey_. What you do to Katara and Aang, you do to me. And I seem to recall getting _hit_ in the _face_ multiple _times_ with the handle of a _halberd._"

Zuko replied, taking a step closer, "You did the same to me but you knocked me off a _ship_ at the same time."

"Alright!" Suki said, loudly, and she put her hands between Zuko and Sokka's chests. "Alright! Enough size-competition, really! Sheesh!"

Zuko and Sokka glowered at each other for a moment longer, and then Aang and Katara stepped into the room. Aang was flushed red clear out to the tips of his ears, and Katara had a funny smile on.

"Yeah, no fighting," Aang said, brightly. "So when's dinner?"



"I'm going to miss you two," Ty Lee said. Her smile was present, as usual, wide and enthusiastic, but there was something unusual about it today. It was sad. Maybe even a bit lonesome. She pulled both Mai and Zuko together in a big hug, and squished them to her chest. She had crazy arms, for a girl.

"Write me often," Mai said, with a rare smile. Ty Lee released Zuko in favour of hugging Mai; she squished her so hard she lifted Mai right off her feet, despite being taller. Mai gave a protest, but she laughed.

"Every, every day," Ty Lee agreed. She let go of Mai and hugged Zuko, not quite as tightly, and she said to him, "You ever let her get bored, you'll take her to the circus, right?"

"Sure," Zuko agreed, but no one really believed it was happening. After all, Ty Lee was going to the Earth kingdom, she was going to be in a circus again, and she was going to start fresh. Zuko thought that maybe he and Mai would visit her someday, but he had a crumbled and wounded world to help, with the Avatar's aid. They'd be plenty busy.

"See you around," Mai said, softly, and Ty Lee laughed, wiping away tears. She sounded so honest. 

"I'll dedicate every act to you all," Ty Lee replied, "And one for Azula, too. I'll tight-rope walk across a flaming net, prove to her I can do it fearlessly!"

"Sounds good," Zuko said, though somehow he thought pleasing Azula wouldn't be any easier in her death than it was in her life.

The only difference was, maybe, he had the chance to do things without her voice whispering lies in his ears.



"Oh man, it's gonna be great," Sokka enthused. He was practically bouncing in his steps; he was so full of energy. His boots crumpled in the snow loudly, his breath was foggy on the air and it came rapidly, and Suki had to slide around on the ice to keep up with him, her hand firmly clamped in his.

"Take it easy," Suki warned him. He heeded her warning, but it didn't stop him from being loud and obnoxious. Katara had been rightly freaked out by his little rendezvous with Azula's lightning, and, as she put it, "it was a miracle they weren't going to be spending the next two months in some backwater igloo struggling to survive." Suki agreed whole-heartedly.

"I'm going to eat spicy foods every day," Sokka announced, "and we can laze around in the sun all day, and wear practically nothing, because it's so hot. And we'll go to beaches every day, and check out all the big palaces, and go shopping, oh, Suki, we have to go _shopping_ in the Fire nation, I hear they have really cool weapons, and –"

Suki laughed and she interrupted him with, "Will we, now?"

"Yeah!" he confirmed. "And we can eat and enjoy ourselves and relax, on the side of ruling over the entire world, and it's going to be the most fun we've ever had. Nothing will be stressful."

He was rambling, going on and on about the places they'd see and the things they'd eat and the activities they'd take part in, and Suki followed alongside him, warm in her parka and laughing along with him. She didn't suggest anything, and after fifteen minutes, Sokka asked, breathless from listing, "I can't wait. Aren't you excited?"

Suki smiled and nodded, but she said, then, "I am, Sokka, but I think I have to go home."

He was so stunned the smile slid from his face, and it as much like slipping off the ice and into the canal, except not as wet. His face was plunged into some sort of frozen blankness. He just stared, for a moment, and then he squeaked, "Home?"

"I want to go to the Fire nation with you," she promised, "but I need to go home. I really just feel as if I should be going there. They need me back home."

He stared at her, stunned, and then he asked, "Really?"

"Really," she confirmed.

"What about happily ever after?" he asked, awkwardly.

"Hey," she said, with an odd smile. She liked the sound of it, but she couldn't entertain it right that second. She said, "We always go back to each other in the end, right? We'll be back together before you know it."

Sokka seemed unsure for a moment. He was silent, stony, utterly mislead by this suggestion. And then he relaxed to say, with a smile, "Yeah. Of course."

She just laughed, and playfully punched him in the arm, hard enough that he felt it through his jacket. She said, brightly, "Just don't meet a prettier girl out there, alright?"

"Suki," Sokka replied, soberly, "no one is as pretty as you, let alone prettier. I'm doomed to be lonely until we see each other again."

Suki laughed, and pulled him into a hug. He laughed, too, squeezing her tight, and she kissed him on the lips warmly, her cheek cold against his from the winter breezes.

"I would threaten you with the same," he said, "but I know I'm the most attractive guy on Kyoshi Island."

She laughed again, throwing her head back, and he pulled her back into another kiss.



Barely two days after the end of the war, they were packing up to head for the Fire nation. Sokka looked at the next few days of riding Appa with dread, not because he was sick of flying (oh, alright, maybe he was) but because as soon as they reached the earliest juncture between the Earth kingdom and the Fire nation, Suki was being dropped off. He wanted to fly her all the way home, but he knew that'd take a month straight of flying. That was a month they couldn't afford.

So then came the parting of the ways.

Katara and Suki hugged, said their goodbyes, and parted. Aang and Suki exchanged well-wishes and laughs, and parted. Suki bid good-bye to Momo, pressing a kiss to Momo's tiny nose, and a big good-bye to Appa, who nearly knocked her off her feet with his giant nose. 

"Bye," Toph said, curtly, and Suki looked back at her with a smile. For a moment, Toph didn't say anything else, and nor did Suki. Toph folded her arms.

"See you," Suki replied, casually, and then she smiled and hugged Toph tightly. Playfully, she pressed a big kiss to Toph's temple, and Toph protested and struggled for an instant. Suki said, teasingly, "Keep an eye on Sokka for me, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I will, lemme go," Toph said, slinking out of Suki's arms like a little kid would. She said, with a sudden grin, "If he so much as looks at another girl, I'll set him straight."

Suki laughed, and gave Toph a real hug, and she said, "Thank you, Toph."

"No problem," Toph replied.

Zuko was a bit more awkward about the hug, and when she hugged him and pressed a kiss to his cheek, he acted all dismissive and said "I don't deserve that." Suki laughed, kneed him in the thigh, and told him, "Get your act in gear, don't knock heads with Sokka too much." He reluctantly agreed.

And then came Sokka, who babbled like an idiot and held her hands and refused to let her escape from his killer hug, and kissed her all over the face until he was covered in white and red and pink make-up. He tried to reason with her and asked her, one last time, if she'd come back to the Fire nation with them. She politely declined, though her pack was already heavy on her back.

And with one last kiss, Suki forced herself to turn her back on him and start walking. He just stood there, like an idiot, and started following. After about ten paces, she looked back, and he was still watching her, and she blubbered, "Sokka, go."

The others were waiting on Appa's back. Sokka put his hands on his hips, then folded his arms, then let his hands hang. He blinked rapidly, and she couldn't bear the sight: she turned around the whole way and ran at him, and hit him like a train, locking him in a hug.

"This is stupid," he protested, sniffling, "You don't want to go, I don't want you to go, why are you going?"

"I have to," she said. And then she kissed him. It was a definite good-bye kiss, and she knew it, and so did he. When they broke off, she said, "Write me every day you can."

"Twice a day," he promised. "It only takes weeks to deliver, that's all. So we'll have a constant conversation going."

"Right," she said, wiping one eye. Then, forcibly, she wormed her way out of his arms and gave his hand one last squeeze, and off she went.



It was terrible business. Aang noted, dully, that just because "the right person" was on the throne, it didn't mean the Fire nation was immediately solved of all its problems. In fact, it complicated things. It didn't matter if Zuko wore the crest, few people liked him regardless. Azula's body, frozen, on a boat somewhere en-route to the Fire nation, was still what they wanted, no matter how dead she was. Zuko didn't want a big funeral. He just wanted to put her in the ground, and put it behind him. Put it behind his _mother._

But the people wanted Azula's rule. They wanted Azula's counsel. They wanted Azula, and not Zuko, and not an Avatar. They wanted their victory spoils from the Earth kingdom. And, too, another problem was the Fire nation and the former Earth kingdom -- all the colonies, the hundreds of them spread across the west and south and stretching up into the north-east, were a dangerous middle ground. On one hand, they were shunned by the Earth kingdom communities for pushing them out, and on the other, the Fire nation hated the colony citizens, treating them as second class. Many wanted to stay, despite their citizenship, simply because they'd never even been to the homeland, and no one knew what was right.

If anything, people feared that the after-war would be more terrifying than the hundred-year-war, but everything was laid to a restless peace quickly when word got around that the war was over. Humanity, as a whole, seemed to decide that they were tired of war. War ceased, though the arguments and hostility did not.

All of that was crazy, until Aang and Zuko started campaigning them to understand what, exactly, was so bad about Azula and Ozai's Fire nation. Then people started to listen, but Aang understood quite clearly that it was the next generation that was going to really like him, not this one.

In fact, the children in all the nations were the most forgiving. They were the ones that the gang enjoyed greeting in each village or each town, the ones that loved them and poured hero-worship onto them. The adults were warier, as many grew up believing the Avatar was an abandoner, or an enemy, but everything warmed up fast enough. There were always exceptions to the rule, at any rate, people who were just grateful to be freed from the bondage of war, no matter what age they were.

And Zuko became their friend through it all, more or less. Sure, there were awkward times, where Aang was forced to choose between spending his time with either Zuko or Katara, because Katara simply wanted nothing to do with him. And sure, sometimes Aang wondered what would inspire a person to change so drastically, and that made him wary of Zuko's honesty about everything.

"You know," Zuko commented, one time in the early days of their peace campaigns, as they sat on Appa. Katara was laying with her head in Aang's lap, fast asleep, so she wasn't going to rebuff Zuko for speaking. Zuko said, "I wish I knew why people liked Azula. That's going to bother me for the rest of my life."

"I don't know," Aang replied, honestly, "I mean... did no one see how crazy she was? Why didn't people care that she was killing people left, right, and center?" 

"I asked that a long time ago," Zuko said, solemnly.

"You want to know the real answer?" Sokka piped up, from Appa's head. Zuko turned in his seat to look, and Aang lifted his head. Sokka said, "Because she was so crazy she impressed them. Because they went 'ooh shiny' at a psycho who was, well, let's admit it -- smart and driven and actually really pretty. She did what she thought was right and didn't care what people think, people admire that sort of confidence. She wanted them all to live glorious, dramatic lives!" He waved his hands about a lot while he said this, sarcastically, exaggerating everything. He finished with a sharp, "She's dead, hurrah, let's leave it at that."

Zuko's mouth twisted up at the corner, Aang nodded and gave an odd smile, and Toph just commented, "Hooray."



Dearest Suki---

IT IS HOT HERE. I complained about the desert, but here, it's hot AND humid. It's like each second of my life is devoted to sweating. And the FOOD is hot. And the CLOTHES are hot. Who can wear pants in this weather! Not me. I don't miss freezing my toes off, but they're better numb than burnt, right?

I have sent you FIFTY FOUR letters and none of them have been replied to. Thanks a lot! Katara keeps reminding me that you're footing it from here to Kyoshi, and probably aren't home yet, but I can't wait that long to write you letters, so you'll probably have a million letters waiting for you. Hurry up and get there so I at least can talk to you, with you being so far away!

What a HOT day it is. Think I'll bathe a million times. Maybe when we get together again I'll be so tanned I'll be as dark as my hair. That'd kind of be funny.

Weather aside -- ahah, when have we ever talked about the weather? -- things are going okay here. Everyone needs therapy, and lots of it. Aang wasn't well-liked and that was hard on him, and no one likes His Royal Loserness, so we thought everyone was going to drive us out, but Aang made treaties for food distribution between the Earth kingdom and the Fire nation. Now he's Mr. Popularity. As am I, by the way, with my foreign good looks, but my love for you Toph's Mighty Fist keeps the girls at bay. So as long as I keep my shirt on and my hair up, I won't get ravished. See? I can be patient. Very patient.

You know that Fire nation girls aren't as pretty as Kyoshi girls, right? I've never seen such ugly haircuts in my life. And the colours everyone wears, the volcanoes literally threw up on them, that's why they're all washed out. Ashes and soot and that junk.

Speaking of volcanoes, saw one blow the other day. Still a cool thing to watch. Someday I'm going to go really close and study how it blows up, 'cause it looks neat. Don't worry, I won't get melted.

Missing you loads,

Sokka



Dear Suki ------

Still no letters! When are you going to get home? Aaugh. This is killing me, you know that? I know any mugger is going to get his butt kicked, and the Fire nation's mostly gone. I promised I wouldn't worry but I am going to start worrying within the next few minutes. Therefore, you have a few minutes until I march down to Kyoshi and find you.

Actually, Oyaji mailed me back, asked about you. Said you were going home and explained a lot of the stuff that went down, but I wasn't sure where to draw the line, so I stopped it at "Suki helped take down Azula and Zuko, isn't that swell?" I glossed over some things I figured you'd want to say yourself.

I have a feeling many messenger birds will be inconvenienced. 

STILL WAITING,

Sokka



Dear Suki;

One more week and I am marching over the world and hunting you down.

Worried worried, worried,

Sokka.



SUKI

SUUUUUUUUUUUUUKI.

OH WHERE OH WHERE CAN MY SUKI BE GONE, OH WHERE, OH WHERE COULD SHE BEEEEEEEEEEEEE?

WITH HER CUTE BOBBED HAIR AND HER KIIIIILLER FAAANS, OH WHERE, OH WHERE COULD SHE BEEEEEEEE?

MY DEAAAAAR SUKI ALWAYS MAKES ME FRET, WHEN-EV-ER SHE DOESN'T WRITE

IF SHE ON-LY WROOOTE TO ME, WHY, I WOUUUULD BEEE HAP-PY.

Musically challenged,

Sokka



Suki,

Okay, now I'm worried. What's up? It's been two months.

Seriously,

Sokka



Sokka was dreaming again. He was warm, again. He was half-under his blankets and half-not, and the part under blankets was the top half. His feet were on his pillow, and his head was at the end of the bed, with his arm hanging off the edge. He was awake, but he didn't really _want_ to be.

He rolled over, curling up a bit, and kicked the pillow off the bed. He scratched his shin and yawned, trying to keep himself from waking up entirely. If he kept his eyes closed, he could continue to dream, and stay warm in his bed.

Suki was _so gorgeous_, naked in his bed. He just liked having her close.

She prodded him in the shoulder, though it was more of a shove than a prod. He groaned and rolled over, and then scrambled to sit up, jolted right out the reverie. In a flurry of throwing about blankets and seizing them up to his chin, Sokka opened his eyes and groaned, "Tooopphhhh I was sleeeeping, don't DO that!"

"Katara says you've gotta get up," Toph said, matter-of-factly. She was grinning. "Breakfast."

"Eff—no. Breakfast is always good, why would I turn down breakfast? Tell her I'll have breakfast in an hour."

His stomach growled. Toph chuckled.

"You sure sound hungry, Sleepyhead," Toph said, "but okay. If you're gonna sleep, I'm gonna go eat yours! I'm just THAT hungry!"

"I gotta go bathe first, though, and I'm not exactly DRESSED, so get out."

"Why do you care?" Toph said, "I'm still blind."

"Because," Sokka protested, "it's creepy. It's still WEIRD and CREEPY to be walking around naked in front of you, thank you very much. Get out!"

"Right then, I'll go chow down on your breakfast—"

Sokka was up in a flash, still complaining and protesting ownership of his breakfast no matter what time it was, and he groaned and rolled right out of bed entirely. He grabbed his pants off the back of the chair by his bed, and he scrambled to pull them on. He was rather used to Toph barging in like a drill sergeant every morning, he was rather used to the same useless argument, and he was never going to win, against Toph.

"Perv," Sokka said, fixing where his pants settled on his hips. He decided he would bathe _after_ breakfast, in case Toph got a little impatient. It was better than going to the kitchens and wrangling with the bitter old women there for a spare meal.

"Like you aren't," Toph scoffed, crinkling her nose. 

"Oh, you're definitely a creeper, Toph." Sokka kicked her in the butt, playfully, just hard enough to jostle her balance, and she socked him in the stomach faster than he could move again. He groaned and doubled over, but laughed when she retorted.

"Just get up, lazypants!"

"I'm goin', I'm goin'," Sokka said, starting towards the door in an exaggeratedly slow fashion. Then, with a laugh, he shouted, "RACE YOU."

He bolted, and once he was out the door, he looked to see if she was playing along. She did, though she palmed the doorframe as she went by, to save herself from skimming it, or running into it. He laughed, loudly, and she fell behind as he raced ahead.

"Too slow, Tophy!"

"You!"

Sokka won, as expected, thanks to his long legs. Toph lost, miserably, thanks to a freak accident with a servant going down the hall carrying a basket of towels. At least, Sokka thought, between peals of laughter, it was a soft thing to crash into. 

"I thought you knew the layout of the castle?" Sokka taunted, as Toph threw herself into her chair at the table and angrily groped for an orange. 

"Shut it."

"Sokka," Katara intoned, and Sokka looked up from his plate – mmm, bacon! – to see her looking fairly unamused. "Do you know how to dress yourself, or are you still learning?"

Sokka glanced down at his own bare chest, and he complained, "It's breakfast! If I want to wander around shirtless and barefoot and eat my da—"

"It's impolite," Katara said, "and you're sweaty. Go bathe, you stink."

Sokka let out a huff of indignation, and he argued, "I'm not THAT sweaty, and it's just the smell of manliness."

"No," Mai said, diplomatically, not even taking her eyes off of Zuko's tea. She was stirring it in lazy circles, syrupy ropes of pale orange yuzu swirling around in it. She continued, complete with a crinkled nose, "You definitely stink."

"You're just mad that Zuko's more of a girl than you are," Sokka replied.

"I am not!" Zuko snapped, slapping his palm against the edge of the table. "You DO stink, go bathe. What are you, a savage?"

"Hear that, Aang?" Sokka said, "He called me a savage."

"I am NOT insulting the Water tribe, people from ANY nation can be a savage, it's not a literal thing, and you're just _acting_ like one—"

Aang raised his hands in defense, innocently, and he said, "Guys, guys! Come on! It's not that big of a deal, can we just eat our breakfast in peace?"

He looked around the group. Next to him was Katara, who was impeccable other than the sour look on her face. Zuko was sitting tall and he looked more than grumpy. Mai looked bored and distant, though the corners of her mouth curled when she glanced at Zuko. Toph was grouchy, and Sokka was putting his energy into aggravating everyone else.

"I guess you guys will never be morning people," Aang sighed, though he had to bite back a serious laugh, and he settled on taking of sip of his yujacha and shrugging.



Dear impatient boy,

Do you know how absurd it is to come home to a stack of letters like that? Flattering, but absurd, considering the labour (of love, I'm sure!) it must have taken you. With the cost of paper these days, you could buy an entire house in Kyoshi! You should be thrilled I love you, otherwise I'd complain.

I've been home for exactly four hours, too, I'll have you know, and I realize it's been three months since I've seen you. That's longer than the first time we were apart! I'm stunned. The Southern Water tribe is practically in my back yard, compared to how far away you are now. To be completely blunt, it blows. 

I've read about two-dozen of your letters now, by the way, and have, literally, a hundred left to go. Regarding that one where those boys were picking on you? If they ever bother you again, remind them that you have a girlfriend who'll kick their asses.

You probably want to hear about the trip home, right? I'll have you know I was traveling with someone or in a group almost the whole time, just like I promise, that's why it took so long: I waited at towns to find people who were heading a certain direction, and stuck with them until they continued off my course. It took a while, but it made for good company, and I'm glad I did. Most were just family groups, with lots of little kids, so it was slow moving. Some of them knew the Avatar personally, and by extension, two people remembered you! One claimed to have been your girlfriend at one point, and THEN she discovered that you weren't actually the Avatar you'd claimed to be, so she would kill you if she met you again. Do I want to know the details about that...?

I'm not sure how I'll get this to you until your bird comes back, so unfortunately, I have to wait for your next letter. Seeing how things are going, should I expect it within the next two minutes? _[drawn smiley face_

Much love, miss you loads, kisses and hugs and all that mushy stuff I know you secretly thrive on;

Suki



SUKI

YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!_ [several paragraphs of text written with such gusto and excitement that it is, quite literally, unreadable_

SOKKA

_[some skipped space later_

Beloved Beloved (haha, get it? Suki means beloved so you're my beloved Beloved! HA! Oh man I've been dying to use that one...)

Katara (who should not be snooping in my private things no matter how much I snoop in hers; ew nasty I will never look at her the same way ever again__ says that my letter above is "a disaster" so this second letter is attached as a "not disaster".

YOU. ARE. HOME.

SO. EXCITING!

ABOUT TIME I GOT A RESPONSE. I am so glee-filled I could explode. Katara is looking at me funny and Toph is telling me to stop laughing like a madman. I think I will return to rolling about on the floor like a loon in a moment so that I can get this out of my system so my writing won't be so impossible to read.

Oh, forget it. No amount of screaming and running around the palace could get THAT outta my system. SUKI!

I am mad for you, absolutely stark-raving mad. I am so glad the trip home went great. That is a Huge Relief and now I can't wait to meet you there.

We're at a beach -- Ember Island. Fire Lord Still-A-Loser has a house there, hasn't been there since he was a kid, nostalgia, yadda yadda. We're staying in his family's old home, and it's pretty small compared to the palace. You know, after months of being in the palace, it is kind of hard to go from a bed wide enough for six people to a bed that's only wide enough for two. Geez, how did I ever sleep in a sleeping bag? How will I ever go to living in a small place? Suki, I've decided I'm going to build us a mansion. It'll have multiple stories, too, how cool would that be? I think I've figured out the engineering to make that thing without bending, just from looking at the buildings here in the Fire nation. You know most buildings here are made of stone? Fire hazards aren't very common.

Anyway, back to the beach: we took the day off and lounged around but the place is packed with civilians, so we did a lot of work anyway. Katara threatened to stay forever, but dropped that as soon as we reminded her that we're leaving for the Earth kingdom in a few days, to start the reconstruction projects everywhere. Man, rebuilding Ba Sing Se will take years, but I feel sort of cool, as that's technically my personal project. 

In other news, I absolutely suck at kuai ball. It's this game with a big net in the middle, and you have to get the ball to hit the sand on the opponent's side of the net, and you can't use your hands. You have to kick it over or headbutt it or something. I ate sand, and was beaten badly by His Flamingness and Her Crankiness in the first round. I wasn't as bad as Toph, who was hit in the head a total of four times. Katara's not good at it, either, but I just can't get over the temptation to use my hands. Naturally, Aang was the only reason we stood a chance, but the No Bending rule was the death of us.

I bet you'd be good.

Signed,

The One and Only Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe



"Zuko," Sokka said, with ample frustration, "If you want to win, you have _got_ to stop sucking."

"Don't look at me," Zuko growled, "obviously the fault lies with YOU, you're the one who keeps hand-balling it. THAT is why we're losing."

"I can't kick it if you pass it at my HEAD," Sokka protested.

"That's why you hit it WITH YOUR HEAD," Zuko said. He made a horribly silly gesture, bending his knees and bobbing his head up, miming the action while waving his arms like an idiot. Sokka flailed right back at him. Aang said something about friendly games and friendly competition, and about Zuko and Sokka being on the same team, but neither seemed to hear him. He warned them that he was going to serve, whether they were fighting or not, and still, he was ignored.

"Not when it's going at a thousand miles per second," Sokka shot back.

"Don't be such a baby," Zuko snapped.

"I command you to stop arguing and play," Aang said, loudly, and he served.

"Alright, alright," Sokka said, and he bounced the ball off his head, easily. Once more, it became airborne, sailing over the net, only to be chipped back by a kick from Katara. It came Sokka's direction again, and he lunged to get it, but he couldn't quite reach it with his head, so instinct came out, and he hand-balled it before it could hit the ground and score his sister's team a point.

"Penalty," Mai said, sharply, "For the hundredth time, stop making us lose."

Sokka held the ball between his fingers, and he said, angrily, "Hey, not all of us grew up lounging on the beach and playing beach games, gimme a break."

"She's right," Zuko said, "you ARE making us lose."

Katara called over, with a laugh, "Sokka, thanks."

"I am not," Sokka shot back, defensively. Zuko started to retort, but Sokka made a gesture of hurling the ball at his head, and Zuko flinched and lifted his arms. Sokka said, "Coward!"

"Just serve the ball," Zuko said, when he recovered. 

"Fine," Sokka grumbled, and he tossed the ball ahead of him. He kicked it, it soared, and it chipped off the top rim of the net and barely made it over. He pumped his fist and gave an enthusiastic shout, just because he had made it over.

"Penalty," Mai said.

Sokka's little celebratory dance ceased immediately, and he stood still to stare at her, and he rounded on her with an indignant, "What?"

"You touched the net," she said, flatly. "You have to get it right over."

"That's bull—" Sokka started, but Aang interrupted with a "Hey, hey, guys. Come on. It's just a game. Don't be so competitive."

"A game," Zuko agreed, "but he's making us look like losers."

"Not really," Katara replied, "he's making you look burdened. If you can win with Sokka on your team, everyone's respect for you will double, maybe triple. How's _that_ for getting your honour back?"

"HEY!" Sokka said, "Katara!" Sokka ignored that Zuko gave the ghosts of a smile at this.

It was too late for protests. She kicked the ball back over the net, clearing it easily, and Mai sent it back. Aang slid in, bouncing it off his head to Toph, who accidently headed it to Katara, who smashed it right back over the net, and into Sokka's general facial region.

Zuko snickered. Sokka did not.



Dear Embodiment of Awesome, aka Suki;

So okay: you probably know her vaguely but her name's Mai, and she's the Embodiment of Apathy. SERIOUSLY. Even my funniest jokes don't penetrate her evil shield of pure apathy. Really. Nothing makes her laugh but _Zuko_. Zuko, who isn't even _funny_. All he has to do is make some stupid noise and start sniggering like the total loser he is and she's all over him, laughing and smiling and whatnot. But the second someone else talks to her, even Aang, Katara, whatever, she goes back to being a sourpuss. Therefore she is the Embodiment of Apathy and not even Koh could get her to do anything but stare at us in complete apathy. And she complains ALL THE TIME of being bored. It's sort of vaguely annoying/whiny but if you tell her about it, she gets all huffy (while still being apathetic) 

So I've finally found a person who doesn't think I'm funny, other than Katara, who only finds me funny ¾ weeks of the month. I consider this a great loss. I take solace in the fact that you'll likely laugh at my jokes to make up for it, and that you aren't an Embodiment of Apathy with a knife collection.

And a question: if they made me king of Ba Sing Se, seeing as the old Earth king is gone, would you be my queen? Because I am _totally_ in the running, and King Sokka has a great ring to it.

Regal and with Minimal Apathy,

Potential-King Sokka

P.S. Hey Suki, this is Katara. Sokka isn't in the running for anything but court jester. Sorry to disappoint. How've you been? 

P.P.S. HEY SUKI, IT'S KATARA. DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS MESSAGE; I'M A JEALOUS, SPITEFUL CREATURE OUT TO RUIN SOKKA'S FUN. SINCERELY, KATARA.



Dearest Sokka;

I don't even know where to begin in half of these letters because you leave me laughing so hard. What can I say other that "ha ha ha" and "good job" and "wow that's insensitive but still funny" and "wow I miss you so much"?

I only ever spoke with Mai once before, and I have to admit she came across that way. Not that I thought her apology was insincere or anything, I know she was being honest, but she's not very warm, is she? Ty Lee, on the other hand… is she back with you guys or did she stay with the circus? 

Today I got my first class of small children! Normally the retired warriors teach the children theory, first, and then we pick up where they leave off, with the real combat skills, but there are so many little girls this year that it's too troublesome to leave them all in one class, so we divided it up. It's a lot more work to teach theory, as some kids just don't want to buy into it, but they're learning. There still hasn't been a boy in the class since you, though!

I'd love to be queen, as long as I get to call the shots.

Love,

Suki

P.S. Things are great. How about with you?



Hey, hey, you, you.

I've I've been been annoying annoying Katara Katara by by talking talking like like this this all all day day. I I suggest suggest you you join join in in the the fun fun!

Actually (actually) never mind, that's a big hassle (hassle!) to write out. It's a lot more fun (fun!) when it's spoken (spoken!)

So guess what. Mai's in a Delicate Condition (which is a horrible way of putting it, if you ask me, she's still pretty annoying/deliberately frustrating) and… guess who the father is? CORRECT. THE ANSWER IS, INDEED, ZUKO. And what is so scandalous about this revelation? They aren't MARRIED YET. Scandal! She hasn't starting showing yet (yet!) so it's not so bad, but I can't wait to see the looks on the faces of all the politicians when the wedding gets pushed forward by a year and baby arrives _decidedly early_. And get this? His mom doesn't know yet, either. 

Zuko makes the best faces if you pat him on the back and congratulate him for it, though. Seriously. When you see him, look him straight in the eyes, try not to laugh, and ask him what he thinks of parenthood. Never seen a guy go paler in my entire life, ahahaha. He's so terrified, and Mai is _so_ grouchy all the time. You know how I told you, months ago, how she's the Embodiment of Apathy? Not anymore. When she isn't a) telling me to shut up b) telling me to stop pestering Zuko or c) complaining, she's doing the all new d) routine, which is ACTING WEIRD. 

Example? Yesterday, I cracked a joke about her collecting buns (she has her hair in THREE, so having "another in the oven"…. STOP SMIRKING, SUKI, IT WAS HILARIOUS AT THE TIME) and she… burst out into tears. Not just weepy, misty-around-the-eyes, oh-Sokka-I-think-you're-so-funny-I-could-cry tears. The whole shebang, gross sniffling, face in hands, eyeliner everywhere. Seriously, I've renamed her the Embodiment of Apathy and Meltdowns, now. 

(I have a cool bruise on my cheekbone from where Zuko got me back for that, though. It doesn't hurt at all. It just looks COOL. But it's not as cool as the bruise on his giant chin. I win again!) 

Let's Not Do The Oven Part,

Sokka

P.S. YOU have to have the babies, we're not arguing on that. I don't care how we divide the rest of the work, Suki, baby, I'm just not equipped for it.



Dear Suki,

Since we invented that silly let's-not-focus-on-the-topic-we-don't-focus-on, I still feel the need to say it, but I won't, because we have a rule about not focusing on it. So I'm just letting you know that I'm not telling you because of this rule, and not saying it specifically, incase you are inclined to send me a letter full of bird poop or something weird for my disobedience. Cruel woman. [scribbled smiley face

So I'm really writing you to talk about my adventures with aircraft, which is really kind of a silly thing, seeing as I should be sick of flying by now. We had some free time a couple weeks ago, and by free time I mean Katara was off healing people and we were "unsupervised", so Aang, Toph, Zuko and I decided to build a machine. Not just another useless, dumb machine that is doomed to rot, but one that can be used. 

And this machine is awesome. It's an AIR ATTACK BATTLE GLIDER, which is my name for it. Aang just calls it the "glider cart" because its true purpose goes against the philosophies of airbending and because the war is over, but we all know it really is intended for really cool, high-altitude combat. I'm going to take you flying in it someday and you're going to like it!

Anyway, so the AABG can carry three people and Toph didn't want to ride in it (also because she didn't actually help make it, the slacker) and the girls were too busy/lame to want to try, so it left Aang, Zuko and me, and we took that thing up for its first flight. Aang figured he could get it into the air if we took the thing off a high enough cliff, 'cause it was too heavy to just go straight up, so we rolled it up to the top of the dormant volcano and got ready. I tell you, that is probably the dumbest thing in my life, I'm not even going to deny it. 

Zuko was going to ride in the back 'cause the bastard made the seat too low for me to sit in it AND get my feet up on the harpoon rig (yes, harpoon rig) because he went through what BETTER be his last growth spurt, so Zuko was running behind the thing and I was running beside it so I could jump into the seat, and Aang was on the other side. And we were going SO FAST down the side of the volcano that we could barely keep up with it, so we just jumped on, but Zuko sort of... missed the step and he tripped, but his other foot got caught on the seat so he was dragged. Thanks to me, ME, reaching around and freeing him, he didn't get dragged over a thousand feet of rocks, but not until Aang had already got the thing off the ground, so we technically dropped Zuko on his head. And then that was when the thing crashed, and Aang broke his arm, and I busted my knees.

Katara was so mad at us, I thought her head was going to explode, and she lectured us BEFORE she healed us. Painful, frustrating business, but it was worth the laugh at Zuko's face. 

Still not going to be kneeling any time soon,

Sokka the Kneeless

(P.S.: I actually still have knees.)

(P.S.: By time you write me back, I'll be back in the Fire nation capital. Phase one of Project Ba Sing Se is done, and there's a bunch of stuff happening back in the capital that Zuko wants us around for. It'll be a time of birthdays, babies, bashes, and meat. In that order, good, bad, good, good.)



"What're you doing up?" Sokka teased, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he walked in. "It's like... three in the morning. Do you ever go to bed?"

Zuko looked up, tearing his eyes away from the fire in the fireplace, and he replied, "Huh?" He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't seem to have heard what Sokka said. So Sokka repeated himself.

"I do," Zuko said, the slightest bit of protest slipping into his voice. "I just can't move right now."

"Why's that," Sokka said, but the question died when he rounded the back of the couch and slung himself onto the recamier nearby. His eyes fell on Zuko, but more specifically on Mai, who was stretched across the couch with her head on his lap. She was asleep, her chest rising and falling rhythmically. She looked almost pleasant, without that sour look on her face.

"It's getting hard for her to sleep," Zuko said, quietly, "so I don't want to wake her when she finally does…"

"Ah," Sokka said, and his teasing mood pretty much vanished, only to be replaced with one of slight bitterness. Mai's hand was resting on her very pregnant belly, and while Sokka didn't exactly care about that, he was pretty jealous of the fact that Zuko was holding her other hand, loosely, and that he got to hold his girlfriend so close, after all.

"The midwives keep telling her to sleep on her left side, but she hates them, so she doesn't listen," Zuko said, and then he laughed, really quietly and really awkwardly. "I mean… what's with that? They're just trying to help."

Sokka forced a grimace of a smile and said, "Rii-iight."

He and Zuko still weren't on terribly friendly terms, but then again, even after a year, it was still hard to buy that the Fire Lord was someone he spent time with on a daily basis. Almost a year of crazy stalking and abuse definitely required tenfold the amount of time to heal. Sokka didn't fret too much, because, well, at least he and Zuko got along. Katara had finally settled into a period where she ignored him rather than antagonized him, very recently.

There was a very awkward period of silence. Then Zuko said, looking up from Mai, "Look, I'm sorry we haven't had time to get you to Kyoshi Island. I know you've been bugging Avatar Aang and Katara about it, but I really appreciate that you've hung around here to help out, instead of running off there."

Sokka was tempted to tell Zuko to shove it, because he just didn't want to start weighing Suki versus the entire world _again_, but instead, he just said, "Well, where would the world be without me? Ha ha."

It was a bit loud, and Zuko pressed a finger to his lips hurried and glanced down at Mai. Mai just continued to sleep, though she stirred just slightly. Both Sokka and Zuko were quiet for a moment, and then Sokka asked, "Scared?"

"Of?" Zuko replied, and Sokka gestured at Mai. Zuko glanced at her, and replied, "Of… Mai? No, why would I be afraid of Mai?"

"Yeah, Mai," Sokka said, sarcastically, "ha ha… no, you idiot, of the _baby_."

Zuko looked sheepish for an instant, and then he backed himself up, defensively replying, "Well, you sort of just gestured at HER, what was I supposed to think?"

There was a pause, and then Zuko confessed, "But yeah, I guess I am. It's kind of… early, I guess, but Mai's pretty excited, which is saying something… wants the kid to do just about everything."

Sokka wasn't about to think about how Mai was initially. Back then, Mai had been even more sarcastic, bitter, she had acted like it was all Zuko's fault, she had been an absolute nightmare around the royal palace. She had been a nightmare. Now? Well, at least she was only grumpy ninety _eight_ percent of the time.

"I just want one kid," Zuko said, a bit randomly. "Just one. Mai wants a whole pack or something." He smiled, funny-like, one side of his mouth perking up while the other remained straight. Sokka raised and eyebrow and smiled, too.

"Yeah, well," Sokka said, "don't want that Psycho Second Child trait coming up again, huh?"

Zuko seemed almost hurt, and the brief smile vanished. He didn't say anything, and Sokka, having realized his error, tacked on a joking, "Not that you… carry that trait… or something."

Luckily, Mai grumbling, "I'm not giving birth to any demonic crotch monsters, or any sociopathic abusers, or whatever," spared Sokka from the stupidity. She shifted, and Zuko looked down at her guiltily. Mai pushed herself up to sit, and she said, "How long have I been asleep here?"

"Five hours," Zuko admitted, and Mai sighed.

"And your legs aren't asleep? Just wake me up next time," she said, leaning over to nuzzle her face against his shoulder, and she made as if to settle in again, but instead, she made a face and said, "Let's go to bed."

She took Zuko by the hand, covering a yawn with the other one, and she didn't even acknowledge Sokka as she pushed herself to her feet. Zuko followed, taking her by the arm.

"Night," Zuko said, to Sokka, as he was led off.

"Night," Sokka said.



Dear Not-Drunk Boyfriend,

So last night some of the girls and I went to the port, because they are closed to all ships leaving or entering, due to the ice. There are some people stranded here because of it, mostly men from the Earth kingdom and Fire nation ambassadors en-route to their homeland. It's pretty common for the ports to be blocked up with drifting ice, but it was especially bad this week, because the build-up is so large. I won't bore you with the details, but to summarize, it means lots of people are stuck here with little to do but tidy their boats, eat, sleep, and drink.

And seeing as I wasn't on duty and in a celebratory mood, I got... drunk. Shut up. I know you're going to look at this letter and laugh, so I'm telling you to wipe that look off your face. I know. I didn't mean to, but Katara's friend drank me under the table, and it was entirely his fault for being a) male and b) more tolerant to alcohol. Remember Haru? Well, he invited me to get drinks, because he heard I was "back in town", and despite knowing that, he introduced himself as a friend of Katara's. Apparently he's helping her with the relief effort in the South? I don't remember, but he said he was going to meet up with you.

How sad is that? I finally met someone who's going to see you, someone who can give you this letter PERSONALLY, and I was irresponsibly drunk. I could ask him again right now, but that would be embarrassing, so I won't. I do, however, recall discussing you with him, and we discussed my non-existent sex life with you. He was actually quite charming, but I'll have you know I could resist him. I expect compensation for my loyalty in the form of a sex life, eventually. I can't wait! 

Haru JUST said, this morning, that you were Popular With The Ladies. He also JUST described a scenario involving two Earth kingdom girls and a tsungi horn. Are you bored without me? Sure sounds like you are, but I'm proud of you (and, coincidentally, giggling at you) regardless. 

Kisses and possibly other unmentionable, dirty, improbable things that we do not talk about in the presence of fine company,

Your Not-Drunk-Anymore Girlfriend

P.S. You're sexy.



Suki,

All letters from now on require a warning. I GOT THIS AT DINNER AND HARU TOLD ME TO READ IT ALOUD SO I DID. Little did I know it was full of PROVOCATIVE but decidedly AWESOME text, and now my DAD and KATARA know and Zuko is LAUGHING and [a short of paragraph of illegible scrawled writing

Strangling himself with his noodles,

Sokka

P.S. You're sexy too. And cheeky. And lots of other things.

P.P.S. AAAAAAGH! The Tsungi Horn Twins were banished from my mind completely, okay. I am pretty curious but I am not THAT curious. Suki, no. NO! It is forbidden to talk about them.



Dear Sokka––

Obligatory statement of love.

Obligatory assurance that Sokka is, indeed, missed.

Curious wondering about Sokka's sanity. Teasing, of course.

Comment about Avatar's upcoming marriage. 

Comment admonishing kids these days, at their young ages, for getting hitched.

Slightly bitter remark about fifteen year olds beating older, hotter couple in marriage race.

Not joking, that time.

Love,

Suki



Dear MRS. SOKKA.

We are married because I say we are. We are married through the Hawkie Postal Service. We have a Literary Relationship. It is all Serious Business. Because I say so, we are now making out via the postal system, and doing unmentionable things in letters. I will let you know that you are so hot you burn firebenders. Now let's go on a Literary Date where we go for a walk down the margins of this PAGE and as we eat DINNER in the upper left hand corner of this page, we will write about how lame my sister is, and how uncool Aang is for being so smooth, or something.

Aaaauggghhgghghhghg,

MR. SUKI



Hakoda showed up in Ba Sing Se at just the right time – Sokka was standing on the sidelines with his arms folded, overseeing a bunch of earthbenders as they reconstructed the housing. With precision, a good team could erect the walls of one house every minute, forty seconds of which was preparation and moving from location to location. A roofer team followed behind at a much slower rate, doing a couple roofs per day. It was slower and tedious, but at least the foundation was going down quickly enough.

"Hey, Dad," Sokka grinned, enthusiastically, jogging over. Hakoda grinned back.

"Sokka," he said, warmly, "how've you been?"

"Good, good," Sokka said, "Check it out!"

He gestured behind him, and Hakoda took a few seconds to inspect the housing. Then he asked, fairly surprised, "How many left to go?"

"Only about six thousand," Sokka said, "How cool is that? I'm gonna go down in history as the guy who put up a million houses in six months!"

Hakoda raised an eyebrow, and Sokka's team of earthbenders, including Toph, turned to look at them. Toph said, "You? YOU? You and what earthbending skills!"

Sokka grinned, sheepishly, and he said, "Yeah, okay. Sokka and his team of super-amazing, stone-lifting, slab-hurling, dirt-crunching earthbenders."

"Right," Toph said. "Just give us the next dimensions and let us work again, loser."

"You wound me with your cruel, abusive nicknames," Sokka retorted, going over and lifting his hands. He wiggled his fingers around in the air, above Toph's head, and before she could ask what he was doing, he used both hands to scrabble up her hair, ruffling it so hard Toph had to duck to escape the pressure.

She stomped her foot and took him out of the way pretty easily, though Sokka managed to land on his feet. It didn't matter, as he spent the next ten minutes dodging rock pellets and being chased through the empty streets.

There was a funny line being drawn in Ba Sing Se. There were five teams within the city, and Sokka was in charge of all of them, though he liked to hop between them on a day-by-day basis. The first was the builders, his favourites, who earthbent the main structures. Then, naturally, came the roofers, who waterproofed and tiled the places. Then came the decorators, who fitted the places by bending in fireplaces, rooms and other such thing. Fourth were the amenities people, who installed stoves and pumps and other such things.

And then, last but not least, the people to live there moved in.

It made a funny rippling effect, and on the far end of Ba Sing Se, marketplaces were already being set up, food wasn't scarce anymore, and the city was starting to thrive again. The farmlands were one hundred percent complete, and many people had managed to find themselves back in their original homes, from before the Fire nation came. 

"You've done a good job, Sokka," Hakoda said, "orchestrating all this madness! It's been bad enough trying to get all the ports reopened along all the coasts, but getting the biggest city in the world up and running again…"

He clapped Sokka on the back, and Sokka grinned triumphantly.

"That's a pretty amazing feat."

Sokka absorbed the compliment good-naturedly, and he replied, "Thanks. After Ba Sing Se, I'm going to help out in Omashu. Bumi's got the place running, more or less, but I think it needs a bit of Sokka-style."

Hakoda didn't need to look at a map to figure out why Sokka would choose a place so far away from Ba Sing Se, when there were cities larger than Omashu that could have used a hand along the way. But he didn't call Sokka on selfishness or anything of the sort – he just laughed, and replied, "I'll look forward to that. But that isn't why I've come to see you… I have a few messages."

"Eh?"

"Zuko wanted me to let you know that Mai's pregnant again," Hakoda said, holding up his hand, fingers splayed. He counted off the first finger, and Sokka groaned. Hakoda just smiled and continued with the next: "Katara's pregnant…"

"Already?" Sokka said, knitting his eyebrows skeptically.

"What do you mean, already?" Hakoda scoffed, though his eyes were still smiling along. "It's been years, it had to happen eventually. You should be happy for them."

"Eugh, babies," Sokka replied, more or less teasing, though he sounded serious enough. "Go on."

"Right," Hakoda said, "I'm supposed to believe you don't care at all?"

"Yeah," Sokka said, folding his arms, but he looked away. "I already know Katara and Aang are living happily ever after, yadda yadda. Do you just have pregnancy news? I'm really not into that whole deal so lemme guess: Ty Lee's pregnant, Toph's pregnant --" (here Toph shrieked "What!" at him) "—that chick that Haru married is pregnant. Mai's pregnant, Katara's pregnant, Zuko's pregnant…"

Hakoda laughed, and he said, "Sokka."

Sokka stopped, and smiled weirdly.

Hakoda said, "Third message is that I'm going to join Katara and Aang in the South Pole now, to help them rebuild the city. They need all the help they can get right now, so I'm meeting up with them in Omashu and heading south from where. Did you want to come?"

"Wasn't Aang supposed to work on rebuilding the other three Air temples?" Sokka asked, expression sobering.

"No," Hakoda said, "that's the fourth thing, he decided against it. He wanted to leave them as testaments to his people… no point in inhabiting it with people who aren't airbenders, especially when the West and East require the ability to bend to function."

"Ah," Sokka said, getting almost impatient. "Anything else?"

"Mm," Hakoda nodded, and he grinned wider than ever at the expression on Sokka's face when he handed over a scroll, one tied with a familiar yellow ribbon. "Suki."



Sokka,

It's currently early in the morning and I was supposed to be going to bed two hours ago, but I'm behind on work and probably shouldn't even be taking the time to write to you, but I miss you terribly and couldn't resist. So, if this is messy or covered in wax, it's because the candle is getting low. Sorry! I know neither of us really has the time to write, lately, but this is all we have, so… I just can't resist.

Apparently, somewhere on the mainland, someone discovered a network of caves through a small mountain, and they've found an entire secret bunker that belonged to Kyoshi herself. It's all very fascinating… some old histories of her childhood, and some epics on her fighting style. One says there was this rogue warrior-monk named Benkei, who had strayed from the Air temples, and he was guarding a great bridge. Every time a fighter tried to pass, he beat and stole their weapons. Kyoshi was the thousandth, and she beat him with only one iron fan, when he was armed with a spear and a collection of 999 swords! 

Aang's going to be formally invited to this bunker, as the Avatar, and I don't know if his invitation will get to him before mine will, but please, please, Sokka? I'll meet you there. Even if you can only go for a day, that'd be fine, I just want to see you! It's been three years and I can't wait longer!

Love,

Suki



Sokka hadn't been through snow since he had left the North Pole, three years ago. It wasn't as if he had forgotten the crunch under his boots or the way it made him so cold, but it hadn't exactly crossed his mind that he'd be in some frozen wasteland again. He hadn't gotten a new Water tribe coat of his own, yet, and after spending years in the Fire nation and Earth kingdom, he hadn't yet readjusted to the temperature, which was easily nearing zero.

In fact, he hadn't been home in four years, and with that in mind, Kyoshi was a transitional place. A pit stop that was perhaps more of a "undetermined amount of time" stop. The place wasn't entirely snow-covered -- he crunched through the snow as often as he crunched through the dirt and barren land -- but there was snow on the air. The wind was chilly.

But up ahead, there was a warm sort of feeling, and he could hardly keep his anticipation in check. 

It had been three years since Suki had left for home, and when Sokka pulled back the green curtain in front of the door, he was quite ready to sweep her up into his arms and give her the greeting he had been rehearsing since he was a teenager.

(He would be twenty, next week, after all.)

But Suki wasn't there. Instead, he found himself staring into a group of energetic little kids, none of them a day over nine. He blinked, and the girls all turned as one to look at him.

Sokka said, awkwardly, "Hey?"

Their eyes widened. Sokka's eyebrows lifted, half in confusion and half in fear, and for all the things he had done and seen in his life, everything scary seemed to pale in contrast with an army of nine year old girls, all in green and yellow. Just the way they stared at him was terrifying.

"Sihing!" a few of the girls called, almost panicked, and Sokka didn't like the sound of that. A bunch of the girls ran for the back of the dojo, disappearing into the back rooms, and Sokka lifted up his hands in surrender.

"Hey, hey, don't freak out on me, I'm just looking for Suki," Sokka said, quickly, but it was too late –– there were two very energetic, very brave little girls rushing to defend the dojo from the adult male intruder, and Sokka wasn't about to fight back against little kids, whether they were being overreactive or not.

Sokka kept his hands above his head, but that didn't help much. The few of them crowded him, and he dropped to one knee to show he had no ill intent, and he found himself more or less dogpiled in the middle. Within seconds, he had little girls holding him down, and the runners were returning with their sihing. He lifted his head, and he said, incredibly overjoyed, "Suki!"

She was just like he imagined she would after a few years apart, older but still with that same beauty about her. Same face as always, but her body was more womanly, more filled out in the places he expected she would. She wore full make-up, and in that full Kyoshi regalia, and despite how plain and normal it was for her to wear it, she was more beautiful than his mind could have pictured her.

Had she always been like that?

"Sokka!" she said, almost breathlessly, and all the little girls looked between the two of them with looks of confusion and surprise. Instantly, they burst into rounds of curious chatter, and a few asked Suki who he was. The look on Suki's face was one that was undeniably delighted.

Sokka didn't care if they knew or not. He pushed his way by them and they parted like the sea, as if he'd scald them simply by brushing against them. Before Sokka could even get four steps, she had covered the distance between them. Her arms were around his neck, he was laughing immediately, and she pressed a kiss on him that he returned without the slightest bit of hesitation. Her hakama made it awkward, but he managed to pick her up just to hold her closer, her knees on either side of his hips, all that fabric between them. Despite the ridiculousness of it, it was great.

The girls all giggled, some gasped, and only then did Sokka reluctantly let Suki go, so she wasn't hanging off him. Her feet were on the ground again, but she clung to him with her hands still, as she turned and looked at the girls with a smile. He pulled her around and kissed her again, on the cheek. She didn't hesitate, and she let him, for an instant, and then she leaned away with red cheeks and a smile. He said, "Hey," and she just stared, in one of those pleased stupors.

Then she said, as if she'd been running for miles, "Hey. Today's their first day. You're just in time. Unfortunately I can't cancel training on the first day – care to stay to help?"

He felt a bit disappointed for only a fraction of a second, and then he said, brightly, "Would I ever." He tore his eyes off Suki for as long as he dared, to say, "I'm sure I could lend a hand here or there."

"Great," Suki said, her hands still clinging to his, and her eyes darted between the girls and him. She was still red in the cheeks, and she said to the girls, sternly, "Welcome to your first fighting class, girls. Fall to rank."

In three rows of four girls, all kneeling in submission and at attention, they certainly seemed less like a ruthless army of children. They seemed controllable. Sokka was surprised, actually. Earth kingdom kids seemed to generally be pretty unruly, but he supposed that on an island like Kyoshi, things were a lot more old-fashioned.

The lesson started and Sokka remained in his stunned gaze, all his attention on Suki herself. He hardly heard what she was saying, other than snippets about duty and coming of age and the right to bear arms, but when she turned to him before the class and said, "Care to help me show them a quick demonstration?" 

Sokka grinned and said, teasingly, "What, me kicking your butt in front of your students?" He winked at her. Suki smiled wryly, the corner of her mouth twisting up and her eyebrows dipping.

"No, I mean you being put in your place for even suggesting you can do such a thing," Suki said, and the girls let out a quiet "ooh" of challenge. Sokka kept on grinning, and shook his head in disbelief.

"Hey, I've been training for years. I won't believe it until I feel it, Suki," Sokka said, and he bowed briefly before adopting a prepared stance. Suki smiled, and she sank into a graceful bow before lifting her hands at the ready. 

"Get ready then," she said, and she rushed him.

Sokka was more than ready. Her hand darted up in an arc towards his shoulder, and he brought his arm in front of him to knock it out of the way, and he knew she'd bring her other hand up to take out his other shoulder. She did exactly that, but he didn't bother bringing up his own arm to block, because it was simpler to take her feet out from under her.

She seemed to foresee that, though, and she stepped over his out-swept foot and delivered a blow to his shoulder anyway. Sokka fell back, but he didn't lose his footing. Suki withdrew, but only enough to give him a second to find his bearings again. Then she was on him again, aiming quick blocks here and there.

That was fighting from a realistic perspective, not just as a show for the kids. Those little girls were operating on a belief that real battles were drawn out affairs, but no. Any real fighter aimed for the kill on the first hit, they didn't dabble in parries and back stepping, but Sokka wasn't so sure he wanted to play that part.

Suki dipped into that mindset relatively quickly. She darted forward, and Sokka moved forward to meet her head on, bringing his hands up again. Her hands came towards him, fingers slender in their blue and white gloves, and he watched the way her back arched as she stepped forward, taking a single breath before landing the blow.

Within seconds, she had him on the floor. She stood over him with a smile, and she said, "And down."

He did that intentionally, and he knew she knew it. Suki knew combat better than anyone else in the world, in his opinion, and under no circumstances did she forget it, but Suki thought him pretty impressive anyway.

The girls cheered. Sokka sat up, and one of them chirped, "No wonder we don't teach boys to fight on Kyoshi! No one takes down girls!"

Sokka raised an eyebrow and glanced to Suki, who switched her fond look at him for one of reprimand for the girl. Sokka waited for it, and there it was: "Now, Sang-mi. This man is an impressive fighter. We never insult or dishonor our opponents, nor do we insist that either sex is the better fighter."

The girl sank into an apologetic bow.

"Now you know better," Suki smiled, and then she said, "Now… who can tell me what fatal flaw Sokka made?"

Sokka later learned that before learning to fight, potential warrior girls spent a year or more in classes that taught them to recognize fighting techniques before they actually learned to use the techniques themselves. A theory class, basically. But at the time, Sokka was stunned that eleven of the twelve girls could identify it, when they had presumably never fought before in their lives. The smallest girl said, cheerily, "He wasn't focusing on your hands. He was watching your chest! Is that why we don't teach boys?"

Suki laughed, and Sokka climbed to his feet, stunned and flushed red, and he laughed, too. Suki glanced at him sidelong, and that wry smile came back for her to say, "Now there's a statement that isn't so unfounded." A bit more seriously, she turned to the class and said, "Anyone can be distracted in a fight, be it by their opponent, by their surroundings, or by something their opponent is doing. It's imperative that you focus your attention on your opponent's attacking parts, not the parts of their bodies that pose little threat to you."

The girls nodded, and Suki glanced at Sokka, who had fallen back into staring at her in rapture, not exactly surprised but still impressed. In fact, she could have been explaining the weather, and he would have been impressed. At that moment, he cared about nothing but Suki. 

Sokka said, "Intentional, I swear."

Suki laughed, and so did he. She said, "Let's see him do it again, and correctly this time, and then we'll pair everyone up and work on your form."

Sokka agreed, so they did. The second round was a bit less dangerous to his reputation, and that thrilled him, and even though he technically wasn't allowed to beat Suki in front of her new students, he put up a great fight before she turned the tables on him.

He wasn't expecting it at the time, but she grabbed him by the wrist and spun him, twisting him around her body so she was behind him, and there she grabbed him by the sash of his shirt. She pulled it off with little difficulty, and he almost laughed, he was so surprised by the familiarity of the movement, but he knew how to avoid it, this time. 

Sokka wasn't so sure she could bind his wrists this time – he saw it coming, and he used his free hand to grab her by the forearm. She stopped twisting him to drag to a curt halt, but he kept going, and she stuck her foot out so he sailed right over it, face-first to the floor.

She still had his sash, and when he hit the floor he stayed there, grinning against the floor, and he was about to roll over and get up when she planted her foot on the small of his back and held him there with a bit of weight. She leaned over, and he surrendered, offering his wrists behind him, but she only smiled and shook her head.

He was glad she thought hogtying him again would be going a bit too far, especially in front of her students, who were all giggling behind their hands. Suki moved her foot from him with a cheery, "What did Sokka do wrong there?"

"He didn't have his head in the present," a girl with pudgy cheeks said, breaking free of her giggles. "He wasn't focused on the fight."

"Precisely," Suki said, and she offered him a hand up. He took it, and she gave him a tug up, and then she said to her class, "Alright. Pair up. We'll do some basic distraction work."

Sokka kept that dazed smile on his face as Suki discreetly brushed her shoulder against his as she broke away from his side, to deal with the girls. He followed, bemused, and while she went to work with the one girl who didn't understand the first demonstration, he was swarmed by four of the girls.

"So who are you?" they asked, and Sokka looked down at them, rather surprised. They were a set of twins, a girl with her hair in pigtails, and a girl with waist-length brown hair.

"Name's Sokka," he said, "I'm from the Southern Water tribe, but for the past, er, well, almost five years, I've been traveling with the Avatar."

They seemed impressed, but the girl with pigtails didn't seem to care about this as much as she cared about who he was in relation to _Suki_. She demanded, "That's nice and all, but what do you want with our teacher?"

Sokka glanced across the room at Suki, who was adjusting a girl's battle stance. Sokka recalled being in this very dojo all those years ago, as a teenager, letting her do the very same thing to him. With her eyes back on the little girl, he said, "Suki's my girlfriend."

The giggles that erupted were enough to lift Suki's head, so she could bossily say, "Stop pestering him and get to work." They all apologized, and she gave him a warning look for distracting them, though it was softened by the fact that her eyes didn't seem capable of adopting this same imperiousness.

"Sorry," he said, sheepish all the same, and she smiled, vaguely. Then, turning to the girls, he said, "Alright, let's see those battle positions."



When the day ended, the girls were given permission to leave rank. Before Sokka could get away, a few of them corralled him and started pounding him with questions, but Suki stepped in for some damage control.

"Hey," she said to them, flushed in the cheeks but remarkably playful, "if Oyaji asks how today went, you won't tell them about me letting Sokka interrupt us, right?"

"That's lying, sihing Suki," one girl piped up. Suki laughed, and peeled her arms off of Sokka to turn to the girls, and he reluctantly stopped bugging her with kisses. She knelt down to their level, much more like their friend and less of a teacher, right then. 

"If he asked if my long-awaited boyfriend finally came to get me, and you said 'no', that would be lying," Suki said, with a cheeky smile, "but no, absolutely not, if Oyaji asks about Sokka being here, it's true, he was. Don't you _ever_ lie to Oyaji. Just don't bring up the subject around him, alright?"

There was a nod of agreement all around, and Sokka laughed. Suki looked up at him, fondly, and she seemed to inspect him up and down, head to toe. The years had been very, very good on him, so her smile was one of approval. Sokka grinned.

"I did talk to Oyaji before coming up here, you know that?" Sokka said, and Suki's mouth dropped open for a second. He said, quickly, "So he knows I interrupted you. Anyway."

"He doesn't know you were slobbering all over each other. It's funny to watch," one little girl piped up. Sokka reached down the ruffled the girl's hair roughly, mussing up her plait. "Hey!"

"Slobber? Nah," Sokka said, and he pulled Suki into one arm. "But I can do that again, if you want to see."

Before Suki could protest at being manhandled in front of her students, Sokka dipped her back and kissed her full on the mouth. Suki kicked out one leg, startled, but she settled rapidly, and when she broke away from him, she was laughing.

Another little girl sighed dreamily and said, "I hope a boy kisses me like that some day! When're you getting marrrrried?"

Sokka laughed, a sharp "ha HA" and Suki launched into a discussion, with the girls, about when it was and wasn't appropriate to do things like that. Of course, at one point, this discussion had Suki reprimanding Sokka for doing that without asking, but every time she spoke to him for the benefit of the girls, she had the biggest smile on her face, the biggest one Sokka had seen in his whole life.



The wind was chilly, and the sun was setting fairly early that day. Sokka found himself huddled inside a borrowed coat, wondering the logistics of living in the tundra, as Suki snuggled against him. She was in the same borrowed coat. She was wearing her own coat, of course, but she was compact enough to fit between the buttons on the front of his and the crook of his arm. Her cheeks were tinged pink by the cold, and he guessed his were too.

They overlooked Kyoshi from the mountaintop with some sort of unspoken joy. Her fingers were tapping against his shirt, calmly, and he lifted a hand to stroke her hair with a smile, and without even saying a joke, she laughed and pressed her cheek against his. She was warm. He was happy. He cursed his coat sleeves for preventing him from exploring a bit of her body at the same time. It had been a while, to make an understatement, and an entire day of martial arts classes and obligatory "hi how are yous" with Katara, Toph and Aang had left Suki rather busy, and himself rather impatient.

He just wanted to be with her alone, and on the solitude of the mountain, away from friends and family, Sokka figured he'd finally get to keep her.

"Man," he said, "it's only been a few years and the change is so dramatic. It's like it's a whole new world out there."

"No kidding," Suki said, "it's so weird to feel unthreatened, like war isn't going to happen again for a long time. Maybe even for a century or two, or forever." 

"Can forever start now?" he said, mischievously, and she shifted under his coat, so that her shoulder was digging against his side a bit, and he wiggled over to accommodate her. When she breathed, a cloud of steam slipped between her lips like smoke. She was so close; there wasn't a single bit of lingering distance between them.

"I don't see why not," she said, and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

And all was good.


End file.
